Second Chances
by Celestina Van Helsing
Summary: When a young woman starts hearing voices, she finds a book containing a photograph of herself, and two of her dearest friends inside it. The discovery sends her on a journey to find out why the subjects were murdered, and how she stops history repeating.
1. Prologue

**Second Chances**

**By Celestina Van Helsing**

The year was 1816, during the height of the Underground Railroad, and in the underground cellar of a small winery in Wabaunsee County, Kansas, a young woman with long red hair and striking teal-green eyes was running for her life.

She was barefoot, clad only in her nightgown, which was covered in blood. Her husband's blood. She'd been the one to find him after he'd been murdered and now she was running from the very person who'd committed the crime, the one other person she'd loved her entire life... her brother. Her heart pounded in her chest and she knew she had to stop and rest, but at the same time she knew she couldn't stop for fear that her brother would catch up to her. She looked around for a place to hide, finding a small space she could squeeze into behind some barrels. She took long deep breaths, drawing in air as quietly as she could so her brother didn't find her hiding place.

"Where are you, sister of mine?" a young man called affectionately, strolling through the cellar as if nothing was wrong. This was the young woman's brother. "You know you can't hide from me, you weren't even good at hide and seek when we were children!" He laughed. "Come on Radha, stop playing and come out, I won't hurt you."

Radha froze in place. She desperately wanted him to keep his word, but all the faith she had in him vanished the moment she'd found him standing over her husband with the bloody knife in his hand. "How can I trust you anymore, Finn?" she asked, loud enough for him to hear her without giving herself away. "You murdered Gareth! He was your best friend and you killed him!"

"I know," he replied, "and I'm sorry you had to be the one to see it, but it was necessary. I had to do it, Radha. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?"

Radha bit her lip as tears began to stream down her face. "You killed him, Finn; I could never forgive you for that!"

He sighed. "I should have expected that, I suppose. You loved him more than you loved me, your own brother."

His sister gave a strangled sob and emerged from her hiding place. "I didn't love him more, just differently," she said, "He was my husband, you're my brother. You've taken Gareth from me, and now I'll lose you too, since I haven't got any choice but to turn you in!"

"But you do have a choice, Rara," he replied, using the nickname he'd given her when they were little, "You could let me go, and you'll never see me again. I'll disappear with the next shipment of 'cargo'."

"I can't let you do that, Finn; I have to turn you over to the authorities. Justice must be done!"

A look of great sadness appeared in her brother's eyes. "And there's nothing I could do to convince you to reconsider?"

Radha shook her head. "No, my mind is made up. Finn, I'm sorry."

Finn walked towards her, quickly closing the gap between the two of them. "I'm sorry too, Rara," he whispered, embracing her, "I'm sorry too." These were the last words Radha heard him say before he plunged the knife he'd carefully concealed in his coat into her stomach. He watched her fall to the floor, clutching her abdomen, then knelt beside her as the light slowly left her eyes and her breathing stilled. "Don't worry, Rara, we'll be together again, you and me, someday. Until then, know that I'll always love you, dear sister. Goodbye." Finn picked up Radha's hand as it cooled and kissed it, picking up the knife from the floor, "I guess it's my turn now," he said to himself sadly, "I always knew that it would be."

Gareth, Radha and Finn's bodies were all discovered the next morning.

* * *


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

On the 27th of March, 1966, a young girl with long red hair and teal-green eyes was gathering her things together and putting them in her backpack. Her day was planned in minute detail, from her daily study trip to the local library, to her dance practice with her partner Jesse Baines at 1334 Beechwood Drive, the house of their friends, the rock band called 'The Monkees'. Aisling and Jesse met the Monkees at the Vincent Van Gogh-Gogh nightclub, where they would perform occasionally whenever the band needed to take a break in between sets.

"I'm goin' out, Mam, I'll be back later," said the girl, kissing her mother on the cheek as she passed through the kitchen.

"Where you goin', Aisling?" Bridget asked. A distinct Irish accent flavoured both women's speech.

"The usual, goin' to the library, meetin' Jesse at the Vincent Van, then goin' to the Monkees' Pad."

"Goin' to ogle that lovely Nesmith boy, eh?"

Aisling blushed. "Mam! I'm not goin' to ogle anybody, especially not Mike." She sighed. "Besides, I don't think he's interested in me like that anyway."

"Agra, I think you're the most beautiful girl in the world and Mike Nesmith would be a right fool not to see that," her mother giggled, "But then again, I'm your mother so I'm biased."

"Ain't that the truth!"

Bridget gave her daughter a playful swot on the arm. "Go on, get goin' or you'll miss the bus."

"Yes, Mam," Aisling sighed and kissed her mother again, "I'll see ye tonight."

"Bye, Agra."

* * *

After a particularly uneventful bus trip, Aisling was finally at the library, browsing the shelves for books to help her write her history essay. She cast her gaze over the volumes and tomes on the shelf in front of her, hoping that something of interest would jump out at her. When nothing happened, Aisling turned to leave, but she stopped when she heard a voice, a woman's, remarkably similar to her own, whisper "Look again. Please, look again." She turned around, half expecting to see someone standing behind her. "Well that was weird," she murmured, "I thought I felt someone standin' behind me." Walking back down the aisle, Aisling couldn't help feeling like she was being watched.

"Would you like some help, dear?" another voice asked, which caused Aisling to jump a little. She turned around to find Mrs. King, the librarian, standing in front of her. The kind old woman smiled warmly. "Are you all right?"

Aisling relaxed. "Oh hi, Mrs. King, yes, I'm fine."

Mrs. King's smile brightened. "Good to know, dear, now, were you in need of a little help?"

"Yes, I was, actually, I was wonderin' if ye had any books on slavery? About the Underground Railroad, in particular. I need to do some research for me essay and I'm havin' a bit of trouble findin' anythin'."

The librarian nodded. "Come with me, Aisling, and we'll go check the card catalogue. Maybe we'll find something there."

Aisling followed Mrs. King to the card catalogue, even though she felt someone or something urging her to go back to the section of the library she'd just left. For a moment she thought she heard the voice whispering to her again, but she ignored it and continued to follow Mrs. King to the card catalogue. But then an odd thought struck her, what if she was hearing a ghost? What if the library was haunted?

"Em, Mrs. King?"

"Yes, dear?"

She hesitated before asking, "Would ye happen to know if the library is, well, haunted?"

Mrs. King laughed. "The library? Haunted? Oh no, dear, the library isn't haunted. Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Aisling replied, suddenly feeling like she'd done something stupid. "I shouldn't have asked."

"Oh that's all right, dear, you wouldn't have asked if you didn't want an answer, now would you?"

"I guess not."

By this time, Aisling and Mrs. King had made it to the card catalogue and were going through it to find all the books on slavery currently available in the library. They worked in relative silence for a while until a title on one of the cards caught Aisling's eye. "Em, Mrs. King? Whereabouts is this book?" she asked, showing her the card.

"Oh, 'An Illustrated History of Slavery'?"

Aisling nodded. "Aye, that's it."

"Why, that book's in the section of the library we just came from."

"You're kiddin'!"

The librarian shook her head. "I'm sorry, dear, but I'm not kidding. If that's the book you want, that section is where you need to go."

Aisling smiled sheepishly, "That's okay, Mrs. King, sorry if I caused ye any trouble."

Mrs. King patted Aisling's arm affectionately, "No trouble at all, dear, it's what I'm here for, and," she smiled, "you may call me Annabelle."

"Thank ye, Mrs. King, I mean, Annabelle."

"You're welcome, dear."

Armed with the card that told her exactly what book to look for, Aisling returned to the place where she first heard the voice. She found the book with little difficulty and quickly took it to one of the study nooks at the back of the building so she could read it in private. While she read, Aisling once again began to feel like she was being watched. Ignoring it as much as she could, Aisling took her notebook and pen out of her backpack and started to take notes.

"Further in," a voice whispered urgently, "Read further in!"

Aisling looked up. "Is someone there?"

The voice didn't answer.

"I must be goin' mad," she muttered, returning to her book. "First sign of madness, that is, startin' to hear things that aren't there."

The silence continued a while longer until Aisling heard the voice whisper "Turn the page!"

By now, Aisling was beginning to feel frightened, "I know I definitely heard somethin' that time!"

"Turn the page!" the voice repeated, no longer speaking in a whisper. Aisling's hand hovered over the page, the corner of the paper bending underneath her fingertips. The voice's insistence that she turn the page confused and frightened her, but also made her strangely curious about what the voice wanted her to see. "TURN THE PAGE!" the voice yelled, causing Aisling to clutch her chest with fright.

"All right, I'll turn the bleedin' page!" she cried, grasping the corner of the page and turning it violently. Aisling gasped when her eyes fell on the photograph that stared up at her from the next page. It was a simple picture of a young woman, about the same age as her, seated between two young men who stood either side of her. They were all smiling, looking genuinely happy, which was unusual considering that the caption said the photo had been taken in the early 1800's and the people she'd seen in other photographs from that time looked far more subdued or severe. She took a deep breath, attempting to regain her composure, and prepared to read the text on the page opposite the photograph.

"The photo on the previous page shows three members of the Underground Railroad who ran a 'station' from their home, a winery in Wabaunsee County, Kansas," she read out loud, "the young woman was named Radha (pronounced Row-ah) Crane, nee O'Connor, who acted as 'Stationmaster', while her husband, Gareth, the young man on her left, and her brother, Finn, the young man on her right, acted as 'Guides', assisting escaped slaves make their way to free states, Canada and Mexico. The 'station' operated for two years, beginning to transport slaves within days of Radha and Gareth's wedding. But it all ended in 1816 when both the Cranes and Mr. O'Connor passed away under mysterious circumstances."

This last piece of information piqued Aisling's interest. "They died, just two years into their marriage? And the brother died too? What happened?" she asked herself thoughtfully, looking for references to other books that might go into more detail about the Crane's deaths. She stood and walked back to the main part of the library, intending to look for Mrs. King. Aisling spotted her at the front desk, helping a little girl and her mother check out some picture books. Once they were gone, Aisling walked over to talk to the librarian. "Mrs. King, I mean, Annabelle," she began, "Would ye happen to know if there are any books about Radha and Gareth Crane, em, about what happened to them? How they died, maybe?"

"Well, there are some books I could recommend for you, dear, but it is a rather delicate subject. Are you sure you want to see them?"

Aisling nodded. "I'm sure, Annabelle, but thank ye for your concern."

Annabelle wrote the titles of the books on a piece of paper and handed it to Aisling. "Here you are, dear."

"Thank ye again, Annabelle," she replied, heading back to the shelves to find the books. In no time at all, even after taking a detour to collect her backpack and return the slavery book to where she'd found it, Aisling returned to the front desk with all of the books on the list and checked them out. Minutes later, she began the short walk from the library to the Vincent Van Gogh-Gogh, trying to think of a way to tell Jesse what she'd discovered.

* * *

"You've told me some wild stories, Aisling," Jesse said as they walked to the Monkee's Pad, "But this one really takes the cake."

Aisling ran her hands through her hair. "I'm really goin' mad this time, ain't I?" she moaned, "Hearin' voices and I don't know where their comin' from, and then I find that photo..."

Jesse gave her a one-armed hug. "You're not going mad," he said, shaking his head, "I mean, maybe it was a sign."

"A sign," she echoed, looking at him incredulously, "A sign of what?"

"These people, they died, right?"

"Aye."

"And no one knows how it happened or why it happened?"

"Aye," Aisling said with a nod, beginning to feel slightly annoyed, "Are ye goin' to tell me somethin' I don't know, Jesse, or do I have to thump ye just to get a straight answer?"

Jesse laughed. "Maybe you're supposed to find out what happened, solve the mystery!"

"Are ye daft? I'm a dancer, Jess, not a bleedin' detective!"

"Yeah, I know that, but someone out there seems to think you are, or you wouldn't be hearing voices, would you?"

"I 'spose so," Aisling sighed as they walked into the Monkees' front yard. "I just hope the voice doesn't decide to come back and harass me while we're practicin'."

"The only one who's gonna harass you around here is me, if you keep worrying about nothing." Jesse grinned. "Come on, the guys are waiting for us, and when I say 'us' I mean you, to dazzle them with our amazing abilities!"

Aisling gave a little smile. Jesse's enthusiasm was more infectious than he realised, not that it was a bad thing, which helped Aisling forget, at least temporarily, about her harrowing morning.

But the voice wasn't quite finished with her yet, as she soon found out.

* * *

The Monkees were about to start their rehearsal when they heard a knock at the door. "That'll be Aisling and Jesse," said Mike, placing his guitar on the stand and moving towards the front door. Sure enough, Aisling and Jesse were standing the doorway, waiting patiently for someone to let them in. While Jesse looked relatively normal, Aisling looked like something was troubling her and she couldn't quite shake it off.

"Hi fellas," Jesse greeted as they entered the Pad. "We're not late, are we?"

Davy grinned. "No, we were just about to start, weren't we Mike?"

Mike nodded as he closed the door behind them. "Yeah, we were."

"Em, I'm goin' to go change," Aisling said nervously, "Lemme know when you wanna start, Jesse."

"Hey Aisling, are you okay?" Mike asked, noticing the haunted look in his friend's eyes as she turned to go to Peter and Davy's bedroom.

She shook her head. "No, I mean, yes, I mean, no..."

"Oh, don't worry about her," said Jesse, putting his arm around Aisling's shoulders, "she just got spooked by something at the library."

Aisling moaned. "I wasn't goin' to tell them that, Jess," she said, adding under her breath, "Not until I know for sure that I'm not goin' crazy." Without saying another word, she picked up her backpack and walked into the downstairs bedroom.

Once she was gone, Mike decided to question Jesse about what Aisling was worried about. "Did she tell you what happened?"

"Not completely, but I managed to some of the story out of her," he replied, "she thinks she's hearing voices, but there's no one else around when it happens, so she thinks she's going crazy."

"Well, she's not bouncin' off the walls, like Micky does," said Mike, "but hearin' voices," he shook his head, "that can't be good."

"At least I'm not bouncin' off the walls, am I?" Aisling echoed as she stood in the doorway of Peter and Davy's bedroom. While she'd arrived wearing jeans, a t-shirt and red sneakers, Aisling had changed into a black, knee-length, halter neck dress, flesh-coloured stockings and black dancing shoes. You could almost hear crickets chirping thanks to the silence she was greeted with, which made her laugh. "Yes, stare at the crazy Irish colleen, why don't ye?"

"If that's what the crazy ones look like," Davy whispered to Micky, under his breath, "I don't want to know what the sane ones do!"

Micky responded by swiping him over the back of the head.

Jesse grinned. "We weren't staring, Aisling, we were just... just..." He frowned when he couldn't think of a decent excuse.

"Talkin' about what happened to me at the library."

"Yeah, sorry."

"No, it's okay," Aisling walked over to Jesse and kissed him on the cheek, "You're just worried about me."

'He's not the only one' thought Mike as he walked back to the bandstand. He picked up his guitar and turned back to the pair of dancers. "Do you wanna start with 'Mary, Mary'?"

Aisling nodded, "Yeah, ye know how I love warmin' up with our Cha-Cha." She looked at Jesse, "Dig?"

Jesse looked pleased, "Dig."

She looked back at Mike and nodded, "Okay then, let's begin."

Mike waited until they'd got into their starting positions and then counted off. He watched as Aisling and Jesse danced to the music, their bodies moving in perfect sync with one another. It half surprised him that they weren't in a relationship, but the connection they maintained when they danced together could fool anybody who didn't know them well enough to realise that they were only acting. But watching Aisling dance that day felt different, like she was holding back or something was holding her back, maybe not physically, but emotionally. Something about her didn't feel right.

Although she was concentrating on her dancing, Aisling knew Mike was watching her and she smiled a little, happy that she had a captive audience.

At least she was, until the voice started talking to her again.

'They're here," it whispered urgently, 'They're both here!' Aisling bit back the urge to yell "Who? Who's here?" at the top of her lungs and continued dancing, despite the fact that the voice's constant presence made her want to grab her things and run all the way home. The song ended and Aisling broke away from Jesse, looking visibly shaken. 'They're both here!' the voice repeated, 'My husband! My brother!'

"Fellas, I think one of ye better get over here and catch me!" Aisling moaned... just before she fainted.

* * *

"Yes, ma'am, I'll drive her home as soon as she wakes up," Mike said, hanging up the phone. "You sure you don't wanna ride home, Jesse?" he asked as he turned to the others.

Jesse shook his head. "No, I'll be fine. Thanks anyway. I'll stay until she wakes up though, then I gotta split."

Mike nodded, "Okay." He sighed. "Look, I'll stay with her; you guys take a walk or somethin'."

"But Mike..." Peter began.

"No buts." Mike sighed again, "I know you're worried about Aisling, man, but she doesn't need all of us hoverin' over her when she wakes up!"

Peter looked at him with worry in his eyes. "Okay, Mike," he replied as he turned and walked out the back door. Micky, Davy and Jesse reluctantly followed behind.

Once they were gone, Mike turned one of the kitchen chairs around and sat down, keeping watch over Aisling, who was lying on the couch. In an unusual turn of events, Mike had been the one to rush over and catch her when she'd fainted, even though Jesse was closer. He just felt strangely protective of her, ever since the day they'd met, and he couldn't figure out why. Not that he complained about it, of course. But there was something special about Aisling O'Callaghan, that was for sure. "Man, I don't know what you're goin' through, Aisling, but I wouldn't wish it on anyone."

"I wouldn't either," Aisling said quietly, opening her eyes a little. "But if it gets me the company of someone like ye, I'll put up with it a bit longer."

Mike grinned. "Glad to know I'm good for somethin'."

"Jesse's not here still, is he?"

"No, I sent them out to the beach, didn't want them crowdin' you."

Aisling couldn't help smiling, also blushing a little bit. "So this wasn't some elaborate plan to get me alone?" She sighed melodramatically, "Not planning to take advantage of me in me weakened state?"

"No!" Mike replied, a little too quickly than necessary. "I mean, no, of course not!" he said, calming down a bit. "How long have you been hearin' the voice?"

"Just today, ever since the library," Aisling admitted, choosing not to mention the photograph the voice had 'helped' her to find. She frowned, "Why, did you hear it too?"

The look on his face showed that he had. "It was faint, but it was there."

"That's why ye sent the others away, isn't it, so they didn't have somethin' else to worry about, yeah?"

He nodded.

"Well, we can't both be goin' crazy, can we?"

Mike leaned back in his chair. "What did it mean by 'my husband, my brother, they're both here'?"

Aisling chewed her lip nervously. "I don't know," she said, "but I'm not sure I want to know. I mean, what if we're gettin' into somethin' that doesn't concern us!?!"

"You haven't been around whenever Davy's fallen in love with a girl and gotten the rest of us into trouble, have you?"

"No, but I've heard the stories," Aisling replied, standing from the couch. "You guys get into enough trouble on your own, ye don't need me doin' it for ye."

Mike said nothing, choosing to stare at her thoughtfully.

"Anyway, I better go change," she continued, "If you're takin' me home, that is."

"Okay, I'll just let the guys know we're leavin'," he replied, standing and walking out the back door to find the others.

'And once I'm home I can start readin' about what happened to both the Cranes and Finn O'Conner,' Aisling thought as she went back into the downstairs bedroom.

* * *

After Mike dropped her off, Aisling immediately locked herself in her bedroom, taking the books she'd borrowed from the library out of her backpack and stacking them on her desk. Staring at them for a moment, she sat down, picked up the first book off the top of the stack and began to read. She learned that Radha and Gareth had met through her brother Finn and had fallen for each other almost immediately, becoming inseparable. "I wish it was like that with Mike and me," she sighed, "If only he knew." She continued reading, quickly finishing each book and moving on to the next, and then the next, and the next, until... "Now they're just repeating themselves!" Aisling cried in dismay. "And I'm not learning anything new about what happened. I mean, there's got to be something in here somewhere that could help me!"

Aisling thought about the photograph in the slavery book. She couldn't show it to anyone, could she? And if she did show someone, what would they say? Something stupid like 'Hey that looks like you!' when it was obvious that she already knew that. She remembered something her grandmother told her once, before her family had moved to America.

"You have an old soul, Aisling," her grandmother said, "You can tell from your beautiful eyes. They show wisdom beyond their years, they do."

"Really Nana?"

Her grandmother nodded. "Aye, they do," she smiled sadly, "And they know that your soulmate is out there somewhere, waitin' for ye to find him."

Aisling smiled. Soulmate. 'It's such a nice word,' she thought, 'I wonder if Radha and Gareth were soulmates?'

"We were." The voice was back. "We thought we were going to be together our entire lives," it continued. "But we were wrong."

Aisling bit her lip and turned her chair in the direction of the voice. "Would there be any way to bring ye back together?" she asked hesitantly, mentally kicking herself for not thinking of talking to the voice in the first place, "Try and make things right?"

"Find our soulmate."

"Our soulmate?"

"You know of whom I speak."

Aisling did know who the voice was talking about. She'd known ever since she found the photograph in the slavery book and she knew who her old soul originally belonged to. She'd believed in reincarnation to a certain extent, but the realisation was overwhelming.

In 1966, she was Aisling O'Callaghan, college student, dancer, and friend to 'The Monkees'.

But in 1816, one hundred and fifty years in the past (give or take a day or two); she had been Radha Crane, sister of Finn O'Conner and wife of Gareth Crane.

"How am I goin' to tell him?" Aisling begged.

"You can't."

"Huh?"

A young woman wearing a flowing white gown appeared before her. Aisling felt like she was looking in a mirror. Radha, the young woman, smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, Aisling, but it's too soon. He needs to come to the same conclusion, on his own, without coercion from you, no matter how tempting it may be."

"What about my friend, the one that looks like..."

"You mean the one who was my brother?"

"Yes."

Radha shook her head. "He cannot know either."

"Why not?"

"Your friend, when he was my brother, well, he did some terrible things, things that no one should ever know about," Radha replied, "and if your friend ever learned of those things, the knowledge would destroy him." Aisling opened her mouth to say something, but Radha cut her off, adding, "And before you ask, I cannot tell you those things either, you must discover them for yourself, regardless of the consequences."

Aisling looked at the floor, crestfallen that her question had been shot down before she'd had the chance to ask it. Instead she asked, "My soulmate... does he know that I love him? Does he love me?"

Radha smiled. "Have you asked him?"

"No."

"Then ask him, or, better yet, do something to let him know how you feel about him. I had to do that with Gareth, and since your soulmate was Gareth at the same time you were me, it follows that you will need to do the same again." Radha looked up and nodded, "Yes, I understand," she said quietly, before looking at Aisling. "I have to go now," she said, "But I will return, when it is time for the truth to be revealed and for a terrible wrong to be made right."

"So Jesse was right, I am supposed to solve the mystery behind your deaths, aren't I?"

Radha nodded. "I'm sorry that such a burden had to be placed on your shoulders but..."

"There's a reason for everything, even this and if I have to be the one to fix it, I will. Besides, I was you and he was Gareth, maybe this is your second chance for happiness."

"Maybe it is," said Radha as she faded out of sight. "Maybe it is."

Aisling looked at the spot where Radha's ghost had been. She tried to figure out what to do next and turned back to her desk. One of the books she'd been reading had fallen open to a particular page, one which talked about the winery where Radha, Gareth and Finn had lived. She picked up the book and smiled. 'Thanks for the hint, Radha,' she thought to herself, although she could have sworn she heard someone whisper 'You're welcome,' in her ear.

"Well," she said to no one in particular, "I guess my next course of action is to tell my 'soulmate' that I love him without him looking at me like me head's about to fall off." She sighed. "Oh boy, how am I goin' to get through this one!"

Aisling went to bed, half dreading, half anticipating what the next day would bring.

* * *


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

The next day went by unusually quickly, and before she knew it, Aisling found herself at the Monkees' Pad, standing on the balcony overlooking the beach. She stared at the waves crashing against the sand, her long red hair billowing gently in the wind. She shivered, the reality of what she learnt the previous night finally starting to sink in. 'How am I going to tell him?' she thought, 'He'll think I really AM going mad! Hearing voices, seeing ghosts... What am I going to do!?!' Tears welled in the corners of her eyes, "I can't do this," she murmured. "I can't do this to him, it wouldn't be right, for me or for him. I mean, he doesn't believe in all this stuff, not like I do!"

"Believe what?" a voice asked from behind her, making Aisling jump with fright.

She turned toward the source of the voice slowly, her heart pounding in her chest, to find Mike standing in the doorway which led into the Pad. Aisling bit her lip, finding herself unable to respond straight away. "N... n... nothing," she stuttered, starting to feel like a complete idiot. "It's nothing."

"Are you sure?" Mike asked, taking a step towards her. "Because it looks like you're about to start cryin'."

Aisling's hands flew to her face. "It does?" she asked, quickly wiping her eyes. "There. All gone," she said, smiling shyly. "Now, did ye want me for somethin'?"

Mike shook his head. "Actually, Peter sent me. He... uh... he thought something was botherin' you," he said, then shrugged. "Guess he was wrong."

He turned to go back into the house, but Aisling stepped forward, closing the gap between them, and grabbed his hand. "Stay."

Mike looked at her strangely. "Why?"

"I don't know, just..." Aisling sighed. "It's okay, I guess I'm havin' one of those days."

He smiled. "Bad day?"

"No, just havin' a lot of weirdness show up all at once," she sighed, "Feelin' a bit overwhelmed, that's all."

"You should've been here all the times Davy got us into trouble because of a girl."

Aisling laughed. "Like I said yesterday, I've heard the stories. Jesse told me, because Peter and Micky told him. Seriously though, does he really do that all the time?"

"More often than you think. We kept him chained to a chair once and THAT didn't even stop him!"

"Wait, you chained him to a CHAIR!?! What did you do that for?"

"Mrs. Badderly, the owner of the tea room in town, was trying to get him to go on the amateur hour with her daughter."

"And launch her career at the expense of the band."

"Yeah."

"Well, things must've turned out okay, since the band's still together."

Mike nodded. "Anyway, what I'm tryin' to say is, the fellas and I are basically weirdness magnets. We're always attractin' something we don't want and sometimes things can get a bit out of hand and we've made a lot of enemies and..."

'Weirdness isn't the only thing you attract,' Aisling thought, with a small grin on her face. "I never thought I'd live to see ye babblin'," she said.

"Hey, I don't babble," Mike said, feigning indignation, "Micky babbles."

She smiled, rolling her eyes in amusement, "Em, I was wonderin'..."

"What?"

Aisling's mind raced. 'Can I kiss you?' she thought, 'Can I spend the rest of my life in your arms? Did you know that we're soulmates? Did you know we're the reincarnated souls of a married couple who died one hundred and fifty years ago?' Listening to the words in her head, Aisling began to feel more and more reluctant about telling Mike anything she'd learned about the voice and how it related to them. "Forget it, I shouldn't have said anything," she said at last, letting go of Mike's hand. "But it is nice to know ye care, though," she added, standing on her tiptoes and hugging him. She started to pull away slowly, but she stopped when she looked into Mike's eyes. 'He's so close,' she thought to herself, 'Should I make a move? Should I wait to see if he makes a move?'

Mike looked at Aisling, indecision darkening her pretty face. The little voice in his head started yelling 'Kiss her!' as loudly as it could. He leant forward...

"MIKE!"

The pair of them jumped at the sudden outburst that had come from inside the Pad, quickly separating from one another and running back inside the house. Taking in the scene before them, Mike and Aisling found Peter sitting at the kitchen table in tears, a dry dish towel wrapped tightly around his hand. Micky was at the sink, cleaning up blood, while Jesse and Davy were trying, and failing, to calm Peter down.

"What happened!?!" Mike cried.

"Pete was doing the dishes from lunch," Jesse explained, "but he sliced his hand open with a knife by accident. We called for you as soon as it happened, Mike. I think he's gonna need stitches."

"Oh man," Mike moaned, before composing himself to take control of the situation, "Uh, get him in the car, fellas, we'll take him to the hospital."

"I'm comin' too," said Aisling, "I mean, it is my fault Peter got hurt, I shouldn't have distracted ye, Mike."

"This ain't anybody's fault, Ais, it was just an accident."

She nodded, then walked over to Peter and kissing him on the cheek. "Come on, Peter, let's get ye fixed up."

Peter smiled, despite the pain, "Okay, Aisling." He stood gingerly, allowing Micky and Davy to help him out to the car, Mike, Jesse and Aisling following close behind.

"Sure ye don't want to come with us Jesse?" Aisling asked, as Micky and Davy helped Peter get in the MonkeeMobile, and Mike got in the driver's seat. "There's plenty of room in the car."

Jesse shook his head. "Nope, I'll head past your mom's on my way home and let her know you'll be late, so she's not worrying about where you are."

Aisling smiled. "Thanks Jess," she replied before joining Peter and Davy in the back seat of the enormous car. "Always knew I could count on ye!" she called as they drove away.

While Mike drove, he thought about what almost happened on the balcony. He was about to kiss her, wasn't he? Yes, he was. Because he wanted to and, from the look in Aisling's eyes, she'd wanted it too.

It was then he realised he had to find another chance to be alone with Aisling.

* * *

A few hours later, Aisling and the Monkees finally left the hospital. Peter's hand had been stitched up and bandaged, being warned that he couldn't play the piano or his bass again until it was almost completely healed and the stitches could be taken out. This had all of them concerned, since Peter would be out of commission for a while and the Monkees still had gigs lined up, so a temporary replacement needed to be found.

"Well, I know Davy can handle the bass," said Aisling. "And I could play the piano, maybe even take over percussion when Davy's playin' the bass, so ye won't need to cancel your gigs," she smiled, "How does that sound?"

"What about your dance practice with Jesse?" Mike asked.

"He knows that Peter's hurt and can't play for a while, and he knows that ye need another pianist until he's healed. He'll understand."

Mike nodded. "Okay, but just until Peter's hand gets better."

"Of course," Aisling agreed. "Now I think it's time ye took me home, yeah?"

"Right. We'll go back to the Pad first, so Peter can get some get some rest and start lettin' that cut heal, then I'll take you home."

"That's fine by me," she replied with a wry smile, taking Mike's hand and giving it an affectionate squeeze.

Mike smiled warmly. "Good."

Micky, Peter and Davy watched the pair and exchanged a conspiratorial look. They saw the way Mike looked at Aisling and they could tell that he liked her more than he let on.

"You know what," whispered Davy, "I think our fearless leader's actually getting stars in his eyes over Aisling!" He laughed. "Speaking from personal experience, of course."

Micky and Peter grinned. "Of course," they echoed.

"Which means we've got to get them together, right?" Micky asked, rolling his eyes.

"Right."

"So, what are we going to do?" said Peter. "How are we going to get them together?"

"Well, we know something almost happened on the balcony," said Davy. "We just need to make sure that they get another chance for that something to happen for real."

Together, the three Monkees formed a plan. They would wait a week or so, invite Aisling over, then organise to get out of the Pad. It was the perfect plan, since Mike, as a general rule, usually stayed at home in case anyone called about employing them for a gig. The three of them nodded in agreement, their decision made.

In a few weeks time, Mike Nesmith and Aisling O'Callaghan would be more than just friends, if their plan worked.

* * *

"Mike nearly kissed me today, Mam," said Aisling as they sat together in their living room. "I know he was goin' to, but..."

"But what?"

Aisling sighed. "Peter hurt himself, Mam, it was only an accident of course, but we had to take him to the hospital, so the moment sorta got interrupted," she replied glumly.

"But you're goin' to try again, aren't ye?"

"I hope so," Aisling blushed, smiling slightly, "I think he was as disappointed about it as I was." She cocked her head, thinking about how close Mike had come to kissing her. It had surprised her when he'd leaned in towards her and she'd been able to feel his breath, warm and sweet, against her mouth, then the sound of the others calling Mike's name breaking the spell. She smiled a little more, "I'd love to have another chance with him," she admitted, blushing again.

Bridget hugged her daughter. "You're a smart girl, you'll get your chance again!"

Aisling looked at her mother thoughtfully. "How did ye know Da was the one for you, Mam?" she asked.

"Well, I didn't like him that much at first," Bridget replied, which caused Aisling to raise an eyebrow. "Don't look at me like that," she scolded, "Your old Da wasn't always the kind man ye thought he was, not in the slightest."

"What was he like when you met him?"

"Drunk."

"Drunk?"

Bridget laughed at the sceptical look Aisling gave her. "Your Da was the typical Irish lad, goin' down to the pub with his mates every night. That's how he was when I met him, completely fluthered."

Aisling smirked, amused by her mother's story. "Stop pullin' me leg, Mam!" she giggled.

"He was!" Bridget insisted, not even attempting to hide her smile, "Came right past me house, three sheets to the wind, every night."

"Okay, okay! I believe ye! Just tell me the story, Mam!"

"Anyway, your Da was always tryin' ask for permission to court me, but your Granda wouldn't let him."

Aisling looked surprised. "He didn't? Why not?"

"Your Granda already had a suitor in mind for me and he didn't want a drunken layabout, like your Da was at the time, as a son in-law."

"What changed?"

"Well, your Granda was away on business and tryin' to organise a meetin' with me suitor," Bridget explained, "But one night I found your Da passed out on me doorstep, so with your Nana's help I brought him inside to sleep it off."

"So you looked after him until he got better? And that's when you fell for him?"

Bridget snorted. "Of course not! I haven't finished the story yet!"

"What happened then!?!"

"He stayed the night and woke up the next mornin' not knowin' where he was or what he'd done. He didn't remember a thing!"

"He didn't?"

"Oh, it all came back to him as soon as he saw me bringin' him some breakfast and somethin' for his hangover."

Aisling couldn't help the smile that broke out on her face. "So you did take care of him."

"Aye, and it made him even more determined to court me. He told me he loved me that very day." Bridget sighed. "And I must admit, I'd started to fancy him too, once I knew how much of a gentleman he was when he sobered up. I gave him permission to court me, but only on the condition that he stop drinkin' as much. He accepted on the spot."

"So what happened with the other suitor?"

"He found another girl he wanted to marry and that was that. Your Granda wasn't very happy about it, or about me givin' your Da permission to court me, but he accepted it. Your Da and I were married a year later."

"Then I came along."

Bridget kissed the top of her daughter's head. "And the rest is history." She checked her watch. "Ye better get some sleep, Agra, it's late."

Aisling nodded, yawning reluctantly. "Yes, Mam. G'night, Mam."

"Oh, and Aisling," Bridget called as her daughter got up to leave, "Good luck telling Mike how you feel about him."

Aisling's face turned bright red. "Thanks, Mam."

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Pad, the Monkees were also going to bed. As he fell asleep, Mike started to dream. He wouldn't have found this unusual if the dreams were the ones where the band finally made it, where they were playing for hundreds of screaming fans, making hit records, being able to buy the Pad and never having Mr. Babbitt on their backs demanding the rent ever again. But this wasn't like any of those dreams. Those dreams could be turned into reality. This dream felt different from the others. He looked around and found that he was standing in the grounds of a fine house, finer than any he'd ever known, finer than any of the fine houses that the band had performed in. Where he was, Mike felt like he'd been here before. Looking up, Mike saw three people on the horizon, a woman wearing a flowing white gown, long red hair cascading down her back, standing between two young men. The woman looked strangely familiar, but the men, there was something odd about them, their faces were blurred, as if someone didn't want him to see them. Mike watched as the woman kissed one of the men, then waited until they were gone before turning and looking straight at him, walking towards him with a warm smile on her face.

"So you've finally made it," she said. "I was beginning to wonder if you ever would."

"Do I know you?" he asked. "You feel familiar."

"I do?" she replied, her warm smile transforming into an amused smirk. "Who do I look like to you?" She kissed him chastely on the cheek, "Like a friend from your childhood? She kissed him, still chastely, on the lips, "Like a friend you love, yet have no romantic interest in whatsoever?" She kissed him on the lips again, deeper than the previous kiss, snaking her arms around his neck, "Or like a friend you're in love with, but hasn't the confidence to act upon her feelings yet?" She smiled. "Regardless of how much she wants to." She kissed him again, allowing a soft moan to escape when he kissed her back. "Who do you want me to be?" she whispered.

"Her."

"Who?"

"Aisling."

"Then that's who I am."

'But you're not her,' he thought, 'you look like her. You're her, but at the same time you're not her.'

She stepped back, her arms dropping to her sides. "You don't believe me."

"I'm sorry," he apologised. "I'm still a little confused."

"It's all right."

"No, it's not," Mike said, folding his arms across his chest. "Who are you really?"

"I'm not lying," she replied, smiling shyly. "In the present you know me as Aisling O'Callaghan, but one hundred and fifty years ago my name was Radha Crane." She sighed, "You heard me once."

Mike's eyes widened. "You're the voice!"

Radha nodded. "Yes, I am."

"But if you're that voice Aisling's been hearin', why did I hear you?"

"I got a bit excited," Radha replied, a slight blush in her cheeks, "When I saw you."

"Me?"

"And one of your friends," she added. "Just as I look like someone you know, you look like someone I knew... and loved very dearly."

"Who was he?"

Radha bit her lip. "I can't tell you. Besides, uh, the resemblance is merely coincidental."

Mike looked sceptical. "So why did you kiss me?"

"I can't tell you now, but you'll understand soon enough." She kissed him once more, "It's morning out in the real world, so it's time for you to wake up now," she said, smiling brightly. "But we will see each other again, as long as you do what your heart tells you to do."

At that moment, exactly like Radha had said, Mike woke up.

* * *

The next day, Aisling went to the library again, this time to look for information about the winery. This time, instead of idly browsing the shelves until she found something that might look important, Aisling immediately sought out Annabelle for assistance. She found her at the back of the library, sorting some books to be put back on the shelf.

"Hello Annabelle," Aisling greeted, quietly enough that she didn't startle her friend.

Annabelle looked up at Aisling and smiled. "Oh, hello dear," she said. "Did you find anything interesting in those books you borrowed?"

"Yes, I did, and I was wonderin' if ye could help me again, I need to find some information about the winery."

Annabelle nodded, "I'll be with you in a moment dear, if that's all right?"

Aisling smiled. "Thank ye, that's fine by me."

While she waited for Annabelle, Aisling decided to look for the slavery book again. She wanted to look at the photograph again, to convince herself that she was doing the right thing. Was she really putting herself in danger? Was she going to put the Monkees in danger by getting them involved? But at the same time, the Monkees could be the ones Radha said would protect her, so she needed to tell them everything, especially Mike and Peter, before anything else happened.

Annabelle must have noticed the look of worry on Aisling's face, since she asked, "Something bothering you, dear?"

Aisling blinked and shook her head, as if bringing herself out of a trance, "Sorry?"

"Is something the matter, Aisling dear?"

"I... em... honestly, Annabelle, I don't know. Things have gotten really weird lately and..."

"You don't know what to think anymore?"

"Yeah."

Annabelle smiled. "You'll understand soon, dear, you're a smart girl with a good head on your shoulders. Now what did you want me to help you with?"

"I wanted to find out more about the winery the Cranes ran, if it's still there, if it's changed much since then, that kind of thing."

"Ah, that I can help you with," said Annabelle, "If you'll follow me to the card catalogue, I can probably find something for you!"

"Thank ye again," Aisling replied, "You have no idea how much I appreciate all the help you've givin' me, Annabelle."

"Oh, I'm happy to help, it's what I'm here for, after all."

When they got to the card catalogue, Aisling said, "Can I talk to you about something? There's something I need to tell someone, but I'm a bit nervous about it."

Annabelle smiled knowingly, "Going to tell a young man you fancy him?"

Aisling blushed, "Good grief, if I didn't already go through this with me Mam last night!" She sighed. "Aye, that's exactly what I'm goin' to do, but there's some other things that I need to tell him about, things he might not believe. Things about me."

"And you're afraid that if you tell him, you'll drive him away."

Aisling nodded.

"You tell him what you need to tell him and if he returns your feelings, he won't push you away," Annabelle replied, browsing through the catalogue. She pulled out some cards and handed them to Aisling, "These should be helpful."

"Oh, this is great," Aisling said, taking a look at the cards, "It shouldn't take me very long to find these. Thank ye again."

"You're welcome dear. Let me know when you've found those books and I'll help you check them out."

Aisling quickly found the books and brought them to Annabelle to check out, deciding that she would read them when she got home after rehearsal at the Pad. She hoped that she'd find something worthwhile, something that would convince the guys to help her, maybe even convince them to go there with her, once she'd told them about it.

But until then all she could do was wait and hope.

* * *

Later that night, Aisling dreamed about her past life as Radha Crane. Memories she never knew she had played out before her eyes. She stood on a hill, watching herself hide slaves in the cellar underneath the house, spend time with Gareth and Finn and do anything and everything she could to keep their 'station' from being discovered. But she couldn't help feeling like something was missing or... someone was missing. Was there another person that should have been there? Someone important? Aisling continued to watch the scene until Radha was alone.

Her past self turned, looked at Aisling and smiled, to her surprise. "I was wondering when your memories started to come to you as dreams," said Radha, approaching her double. "What do you think of what you've seen so far?"

"This place was so beautiful."

"It was," Radha replied. "It still is, a bit older, of course, but still as beautiful as it was when Gareth and I lived there."

The two of them walked down the hill, towards a pristine lake. Aisling's breath caught in her throat when she recognised it, even though she hadn't seen it before in real life. Radha smiled at the wonder in her future self's eyes as she looked at the clear water. She knew the signficance of the lake but Radha wanted to see if Aisling could figure out what was special about it on her own.

"I know this place," said Aisling, tears of happiness appearing in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away, saying, "Something happened here, to you, Radha, to us, that made us so happy we thought we'd burst!" She looked at Radha suspiciously, "Is this where Gareth proposed to you?"

Radha grinned. "Yes, it is. Isn't it wonderful?"

Aisling smiled with relief. "It is. I knew as soon as I saw it, but I don't why I should've thought anything different."

"Of course you shouldn't, silly!" Radha giggled, "I am you and you are me."

"So it makes sense that I'd feel what you feel and know what you know."

"Even t hough you don't remember much of it yet." Radha took Aisling by the hand, leading her back up the hill. "How does this place, not just the lake, but this whole area, make you feel?"

"I feel... happy."

"But that's not all you feel, is it?"

Aisling shook her head.

"You don't know yet why you feel this way, do you?" Radha continued, as they walked together, "You want to know, desperately, but something's blocking it, stopping you from remembering."

"But the winery, it's important, isn't it," said Aisling, stopping at the top of the hill, "To learn what I need to know, for me to reveal the truth, I have to go there, don't I?"

Radha nodded. "But you mustn't go there alone - no - you shouldn't go there alone, because there are others who need to know the truth as well, other that must be there to protect you in the event that he tries to harm you. He will try and stop you, just as he did when you were me," she frowned, "And if you don't reveal the truth by midnight on the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of our death, history will repeat itself."

Aisling looked at Radha curiously. "History will repeat itself?"

"It will, unless you can prevent it, to save your life and the lives of your friends."

"History will repeat itself," said Aisling, letting the words turn over in her head. Tears appeared in her eyes as she realised what her past self was saying. She sank to the ground and began to sob uncontrollably as Radha embraced her, trying to comfort her. She continued like this until she couldn't cry anymore. She stood, breathing heavily and wiping the tears from her face like she had many times before. "So we'll die again, the three of us," she said at last. "Me..."

"And Mike..." Radha said, continuing Aisling's train of thought.

"And Peter." Aisling finished, shedding a last solitary tear.

* * *


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

When Aisling arrived the next day for her first rehearsal as Peter's temporary replacement, Mike noticed that she looked a little sad and a little tired. He wondered if there was still something she wasn't telling him, especially after the dream he'd had two nights previously, the one with the girl who looked like Aisling, but wasn't, yet was at the same time.

Aisling saw him staring at her and flashed him a shy smile as she put down her bag. She could tell he was worrying about her from the look on his face, which she thought was sweet and made her heart do a couple of back flips for good measure. But she was still a little spooked by her own dream, not knowing that Radha had made contact with Mike, so she was hesitant to say anything or do anything that might give herself away. Instead she approached Peter, gave him a quick peck on the cheek and asked him if his hand was starting to feel any better.

"It still hurts a little," he replied, "but the doctor said the pain should go away once it's started to heal some more."

"That's good," Aisling smiled. "Just be a little more careful the next time it's your turn to do the dishes, sweetie."

Peter nodded, "I will."

She walked to the bandstand and took up position behind the keyboard, sneaking a quick glance at Mike when she thought he wasn't looking. He was wearing his black button-down shirt and a pair of tight jeans, accentuating his lithe figure nicely and giving Aisling more than a little eye candy. She groaned, running her hands through her long hair and thinking, 'Stop looking at his backside, you cretin!' To make matters worse, Mike chose that moment to bend over and adjust the volume on his amp, which gave Aisling a better view, prompting her to think, 'Too late,' and letting out a small sigh. She smiled stupidly, leaning on the keyboard and resting her head on her hand, 'Well, I guess looking won't hurt, he IS worth it after all.'

Mike stood, then turned to face Davy, Micky and Aisling, and consciously decided not to embarrass Aisling by asking her why she was looking at him with a silly grin on her face and a slight blush in her cheeks. It didn't take much to realise that he was the one making her blush, whether he intended to or not, but it felt nice for a girl to notice him for a change, when all the girls they usually encountered never gave him a second look and fell for Davy's charms at the drop of a hat.

"Uh, what do you want to start with, Ais?" he asked.

"Whatever ye want, Mike," she replied. "What do ye usually start with?"

"How about 'I'm a Believer'?" Micky suggested, winking at Davy, "That one should be easy enough."

Aisling nodded, "Sounds good, I play that one all the time at home," she said.

Mike counted them off and Aisling started to play the intro to 'I'm a Believer', hitting only one or two wrong notes when the rest of the group joined in. Even though Aisling hadn't played with them before, with a little assistance from Peter joining her and whispering all the bits and pieces she needed to remember in her ear, she managed to keep up without falling behind whenever she made a mistake. Aisling's confidence grew as they progressed through the rehearsal, beginning to rely on her own abilities than on Peter's help, and she breezed through the next couple of songs with little difficulty.

It was at this time Davy decided to throw in a 'curve ball'. He sidled next to Mike and gave him a nudge. "Hey, Mike?"

"Yeah, Dave?"

"Ain't there a song you wanted to do, but you thought it'd be better as a duet with a girl singer?"

Mike raised an eyebrow, starting to get an idea of where this was heading. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, Aisling's a girl, and she sings."

Aisling snorted. "Whatever you're tryin' to do, Davy Jones, I'll have no part of it!" She frowned, "Besides I can't sing! I sound like a horse with a frog in its throat!" She paused for a moment, then said, "No, actually I sound like a horse with a frog in its throat in mating season!"

"Hey, now," Mike said, turning to look at her, a scowl on his face. "That's not true! You have a great voice!" He stopped when he realised what he said, his scowl fading as he looked down at the floor, before adding quietly, "I, uh, I heard you singing to yourself when I drove you home a couple days ago."

An awkward silence filled the room as Aisling processed this information. She opened her mouth to say something then closed it again, unable to put words to what she felt about the whole thing that transpired in the last ten minutes. Mike looked at her, mentally kicking himself, and thinking that he'd said too much, even though he meant every word. "Thank ye," she said at last, to everyone's relief, "That's the first time anyone's said that to me and not just bein' polite." She smiled warmly, "So what's this song ye wanted to do?"

Mike shrugged, "Just this Buffy Sainte-Marie song that I liked, I mean, I could do it by myself, but..."

"Ye wanted to try it as a duet before ye decided what ye wanted to do with it."

"Uh huh."

Now Aisling understood what Davy was trying to do, and she wasn't sure if she should thank him or throttle him. Performing with the band as a temporary member was one thing, but actually singing lead, and not just singing lead but sharing it with MIKE, of all people, was another. She could say no, and hope Mike would understand, or she could say yes, and embarrass herself in front of an audience.

Aisling chewed her lip, "Could I hear you sing it first?" she asked.

"Sure," said Mike, with a nod, "I'll just get the music and my acoustic guitar. Be right back."

When she was sure Mike was well and truly out of earshot, Aisling turned to Davy and said, "Are ye out of your MIND!?!"

Davy shook his head, "No, I'm not completely crackers, Ais, but I'm looking at someone who is."

"Who?"

"You, head over heels for our own W.H. Woolhat and not even making any attempt to admit it!"

Aisling started to reply, then stopped, struck dumb by his innate ability to read her, and just about any woman, like a book.

"I wasn't completely sure, at first," Davy continued, "Not until we had to take Peter to the hospital. The way you and Mike look at each other, there's no mistaking it, all the signs were there, man," he grinned, adding, "They don't call me Casanova Jones for nothing!"

Aisling glanced at Micky and Peter, "I take it you fellas know too?"

They nodded.

"Oh brother."

Peter smiled. "Everything's gonna be okay, Ais, we're gonna help you."

"How?"

"Same as we did for Millie and Larry."

Aisling raised an eyebrow, "You're goin' to get him to tell me that I drive him to distraction, eh? Maybe get him to say me eyes are like cupcakes floatin' in a sea of sour cream?"

"Yes!" said Micky, hastily changing his answer to "No!" when Davy and Peter both glared at him.

"I'm doomed," Aisling moaned, casting her gaze up the stairs to see Mike returning from his bedroom holding a sheaf of paper and his acoustic twelve-string. "Say nothing!" she hissed at the three young men in front of her. She rolled her eyes, and suppressed the urge to laugh when her three friends responded with the universal gestures for 'See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil', in other words, their way of telling her that they understood. Turning her attention to Mike as he returned to the bandstand, Aisling smiled, feeling more than a little relieved to have Peter, Micky and Davy on her side and willing to do whatever they could to help, but also a little worried that their idea of 'help' would be more trouble than it's worth.

Mike put the sheet music on the music stand and pulled up a chair for Aisling, who sat down and studied the melody written on the staff, while he sat beside her, cradling his acoustic twelve-string in his lap. He looked at her for a moment, remembering his dream and wondering if something similar had happened to her, and whether or not he should ask her about it, in private, where three certain mischievous Monkees couldn't overhear them. Aisling must have realised he was looking at her because she stopped reading the music and turned her head in his direction, her teal-green eyes meeting his brown ones with a quizzical look.

"Is there somethin' wrong, Mike? I haven't got somethin' on me face, have I?"

"No, I, uh, I just got a bit..."

Aisling laughed. "Forget I said anythin'. Why don't ye sing this song for me, like we agreed?"

"Okay," he replied, looking down at the guitar and starting to play.

The most beautiful music poured forth from the instrument, pulling at Aisling's heartstrings. But it was when Mike began to sing that sent her over the edge. Without realising it, Aisling started to cry, because even though she'd heard him sing before, the emotion Mike used as the words came out of his mouth was awe-inspiring, and, if she wasn't already in love with him, Aisling would have been by the time she finished listening to the song.

Mike allowed the last chord to ring out, then muted the strings and looked up at Aisling expectantly. He wondered if he'd done something wrong when he saw the tears running down her cheeks.

Aisling gave a small hiccup. "That was beautiful," she said, hiccupping again, "Simply beautiful."

'So are you,' Mike wanted to reply, instead he asked, "Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine, I mean, I'll be fine as soon as I stop cryin'."

"I, uh, I could get you a glass of water," he said, standing from his chair, "To help get rid of your hiccups, I mean."

Peter couldn't help smiling a little, there was something about seeing Mike and Aisling together that felt... right. He, Micky and Davy looked at each other, clearly having the same thought. "Should we clear out now, or are we still going to wait?" he whispered.

"Clear out," Davy whispered back, "I'll go first; you and Micky wait five minutes, then follow."

"Do we have to?" Micky whined.

"Yes we do."

Davy stood from the couch, where the three of them had been sitting. "I'm gonna go for a walk, if that's okay with you fellas?"

Mike looked at him sharply, "But we're still in the middle of rehearsal, Dave."

"Oh let him go," Aisling said, letting out another hiccup, "Give the guys a break while we work on this song. Together."

"So you'll do it?" he asked, looking down at her in surprise.

She nodded, hiccupping again, "I never said no."

Mike set his guitar in its stand, "Hold on, I'll go get you some water. You know, for your hiccups." He turned to Micky, Peter and Davy, "You guys, go do wherever you want, do whatever you want, just be back in, say, an hour?"

The three of them pretended to look surprised that Mike was so eager to get rid of them, because they knew he never acted that way about anyone, with the exception of Mr. Babbitt, since none of them ever wanted him to hang around for very long anyway. They looked at him for a moment, then at each other, and then shrugged and headed out to the beach.

"Okay, I'll get you that water now," said Mike, heading to the kitchen. He searched through the cupboards until he found a relatively clean glass, then quickly filled it with water. Turning around, he slowly walked back to where Aisling sat on the bandstand, careful not to spill any of the liquid. "Here," he said, handing her the glass, "This should fix you right up."

"You didn't need to go to all that trouble," she said, in between sips.

Mike shook his head, "No trouble."

"So," Aisling said once she'd finished her water, "What are we goin' to do now? Work on that song?"

"Uh, could we talk?" Mike asked, "About what happened on the balcony the other day?"

"You mean before we had to take Peter to the hospital?"

He nodded.

"Oh."

They sat together in silence, until both of them suddenly said "I have something I need to tell you!" at the same time.

* * *

"Look, you go first," Mike said at last.

Aisling shook her head, "No, you first, what I have to say can wait."

"Okay, well, you see, I, uh, I had a dream a couple nights ago..."

She raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"You were in it... sort of."

Aisling blushed. "So ye were dreamin' about me?"

"Well, she looked like you, and she felt like you, but at the same time, she wasn't you," he said, silently adding, 'No matter how much I wanted her to be.'

"What did she say to you?"

"She told me that, in the present, she really was you, but in the past, her name was Radha Crane. That's when I realised that she was the voice you said you heard."

Aisling's face turned as white as a sheet. "You've met her?"

Mike nodded. "Yeah, she told me I look like someone she knew. Do you know what she was talkin' about?"

"I do... because I've dreamt about her too, just last night."

"What did she tell you?"

"Lots of things," she said quietly, "And the more I think about it, the more frightened I get."

Mike reached forward and stroked Aisling's cheek, "But you don't have to be frightened, not while I'm around."

"I don't?"

"No, you don't."

Aisling frowned, "But what if you're not around?"

"Then we'll just have to make it so I'm always around."

Aisling's eyes widened, then smiled, blushing furiously. "In that case... Could I ask ye an honest question?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"What do you think about women who make the first move?" she asked, curling her hair with her fingers playfully.

Mike opened his mouth to reply, but stopped when his companion suddenly shot forward and captured his lips with her own. Forgetting himself for a moment, he closed his eyes, becoming lost in the feel of her kiss. It was sweet, like honey, and she smelt heavenly, like a strange mixture of roses and lilies. She snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, wanting him to take the initiative and make the next move. To her surprise and disappointment, Mike ended the kiss by pushing her away, staring at her like he'd just done something terrible.

"Why'd ye stop?" she whispered, her long hair falling over one of her bright teal-green eyes.

"I... I..." he swallowed, his throat suddenly feeling very dry, "I don't know."

He reached out and brushed her hair out of her eyes until it fell gently behind her ear, then drew her close and resumed their kiss, to her delight, returning it with the same amount of passion she'd displayed when she kissed him the first time. He didn't hesitate to deepen the kiss, feeling that this was what she wanted before he'd acted so stupidly. They continued like this for a while longer before, somewhat reluctantly, coming up for air.

Aisling had a small, silly grin on her face after they broke apart. "I've been wantin' to do that for ages, if ye don't mind me sayin' so."

Mike smiled. "No, I don't mind, just give me some kind of warning next time, okay?"

"Okay," she replied, kissing him again softly, "Is that warnin' enough?"

"That's more than enough."

Aisling beamed. "So ye won't mind me doin' this then," she said, kissing him deeply, letting out a small sigh when he kissed her back. "There's something I want to show ye," she said when they parted, "At the library, if you'll let me."

"What is it?"

"A book," she replied, "There are a couple of pictures in it that I think might interest ye. If ye want to see them, that is."

"I dunno... What's this book about?"

She hesitated. "If I tell you, promise you won't laugh?"

Mike nodded. "I promise," he said, kissing her gently.

"It's called 'An Illustrated History of Slavery' by Conrad Jenkins."

He frowned. "If it's a book about slavery, what's in it that might interest me?"

"One of the photographs. You might find the three people in it very familiar."

They sat together in silence as she waited for him to give her an answer.

"All right, then," he said suddenly, "Show me this photograph."

Aisling smiled her small, silly grin again, relieved that he'd chosen to take her up on her offer.

Mike quickly found a pen and paper, then wrote a short note and left it on the kitchen table. He grabbed his jacket and the keys for the MonkeeMobile and followed her outside to the souped up Pontiac GTO. Within minutes, the pair of them were on the way to the library, aware that anything that happened from that point onwards would change their lives... permanently.

* * *

When Annabelle saw Aisling walk into the library for her third visit that week, she was not surprised. She'd had a small inkling that the young lady would return, but she became a little shocked, then a little proud, then the tiniest bit jealous when she saw the young man who'd walked into the library by Aisling's side. She hadn't seen him before, but she could tell from the way Aisling looked at the man on her arm, that this was the one they'd spoken about the previous day. She smiled when Aisling looked at her and lead the young man to the front desk.

"Hello, dears," she greeted both of them warmly. "I take it you want my help again, Aisling?"

"Aye," said Aisling, "I do. There's somethin' that I want to show me..." she looked up at Mike and grinned, "me boyfriend, if that's not too much trouble?"

Annabelle shook her head, "No trouble at all, dear. What do you need?"

"That book, the slavery one, is that still here?"

"I believe it is, it should still be on the shelves where you found it the last time you wanted it. Would you like me to find it for you?"

"No, I think I can find it," Aisling replied, "But thank ye for helping me again, Annabelle."

"You're welcome, dear."

"So," said Mike as they walked away from the front desk and headed deeper into the library, "I'm your boyfriend?"

Aisling blushed. "Was that wrong of me? Should I have said somethin' else?"

Mike took a quick look around, making sure that they were alone, then kissed her soundly, "Nope."

This made Aisling more determined than ever to tell Mike she loved him, but she wasn't sure if telling him too soon would scare him off, so she smiled and remained silent, continuing to look through the shelves as they walked. She wondered if Radha might lead her to the book again, but Aisling wasn't holding her breath to find out, especially since Mike was standing right there with her and could probably hear anything and everything that Radha might say.

"I think this was where I found that book," Aisling said, recognising where they were. Quickly rummaging through the books on the shelf, she grinned and plucked one of the books from its place, then showed it to Mike, "This is it!" she exclaimed, "This is the book I wanted to show ye!"

Mike looked at the cover and nodded, "Okay, but do you think we could look at it somewhere private?"

She nodded. "Sure, there's a few private study rooms at the back of the library, we can go there and not be disturbed," Aisling took his hand, "Come on, I'll show ye where they are." She lead him to the back of the building and into a small room with four chairs on each side of the table in the middle of the room. Placing the book on the table, Aisling sat down while Mike dragged one of the chairs over so he could sit next to her. Aisling looked at Mike, smiling sadly, "Well, here goes nothin'..." she sighed, opening the book to the correct page and sliding it towards Mike.

Mike's eyes widened as he stared at the photograph in shock. He'd immediately recognised the woman sitting down as the one he'd met in his dream, but it was the appearance of the two young men standing either side of her that shocked him the most.

"That's me..." he murmured, beginning to understand why Radha had told him he looked like someone she loved. The man in the photograph was his exact double, from the way he stood and right down to the wave of hair that fell over his left eye. "But how?" he asked, looking up at Aisling, "How can that be me!?!"

Aisling bit her lip, knowing that she'd have to face this question sooner or later. "Honestly, I don't know," she replied, "Although, there is one possibility I've considered, but I'm not sure if I should tell ye, Mike, because I'm terrified that you'll think I'm crazy or..." She looked at him sadly, "Or make ye decide that ye never want to see me again."

"Don't be scared, Ais," he said, caressing her cheek, "Say what you need to say."

She nodded, and took a deep breath before asking, "Do ye believe in reincarnation?"

"Well, I understand the basic principles behind it, mostly from listening to Peter," Mike replied, "But I can't say I believe in it."

Aisling's face fell, and tears started to form in the corners of her eyes. "I knew this was a bad idea from the start," she moaned, "I should've just left it alone, forgotten about it."

Cupping her face in his hands, Mike kissed her tenderly, then said, "But that's just not like you."

"I know."

"So, if I said I do believe in reincarnation, what would you tell me?"

"That we're the reincarnated souls of Radha and Gareth Crane."

Mike looked down at the photograph, "I can see how you'd come to that conclusion, babe."

Aisling sniffled. "Does that mean ye believe me?"

"Almost," he said, then pointed to the other young man looking up at him from the page, "What about him?"

"Well, back then he was Radha's brother, but now... he's our own Peter Halsten Tork." She closed the book, and rest her head in her hands. "I'm sorry I got ye into this," she sobbed, "I'm so, so, sorry. First there was the voice, then the ghost, then that dream I had last night!"

Mike frowned. "You mentioned that, back at the Pad. What happened in it?"

"I dreamt that I was on a hill, and I was watchin' things that happened over a century ago as if they were happenin' now. I was there and you were there, and Peter was too. We were helpin' people, slaves, hidin' them mostly, then Radha started talkin' to me, and showin' me places that I recognise, yet I shouldn't be recognisin' because I've never been to them before!" Aisling sat up and wiped her eyes. "Then she told me that if I don't find out what happened to them - to us - by midnight on the anniversary of their deaths, history will repeat itself."

Mike stared at her, letting her story sink in. 'She can't be lying' he thought, 'Because she's never had any reason to lie about anyone or anything, therefore, Aisling is telling the truth, and I believe her, so I'm not going to abandon her, whatever happens.'

He embraced her. "Whatever you need to do, shotgun, I'm here for you."

"I need to go somewhere," she said quietly. "And I was hopin' ye and the fellas would come with me, but I understand if ye don't want to, ye don't need me bringin' more trouble than - mmph!" Mike had seized the opportunity to kiss her while she was distracted, and, when the shock wore off, Aisling didn't hesitate to kiss him in return. "I love you," she whispered against his mouth, before letting him kiss her again, "I love you so much."

Mike smiled. "I know, Ais. Took me a while to figure it out, but," he kissed her again, "I love you too." His smile grew when he saw the look of disbelief she gave him. "I bet you didn't expect me to say it so soon, did you?" She blushed and shook her head. "Well, I have and I mean every word."

"Then will ye come to Kansas with me?" she asked earnestly, "Because that's where I need to go, but I don't want to go there alone."

"I'd have to talk to the guys about it, but if we show them this," he pointed to the photograph, "We could convince them to go on a road-trip, I guess, but after what happened in Mexico, letting Davy out of the house might not be such a good idea."

Aisling laughed. "Since when has THAT stopped ye?" she asked, "Ye 'chained him to a chair once', remember?"

"Yeah, I know," he chuckled, "At least I don't get us into trouble, not like Davy."

"But I could be gettin' ye into trouble, we've no way of knowin' what's goin' to happen when we get there!"

"Then we'll just take it one step at a time." He looked at her sharply, but she could still see the warmth in his brown eyes, "I'm not going to abandon you, Aisling. We're gonna figure this out. Together." Mike picked up the book as they stood up, "I think you should borrow this," he said, handing it to Aisling, "We'll use it as proof for when we tell the guys."

Aisling hugged him. "Thank ye for believin' me," she said, "I don't know what I would've done if ye didn't."

Mike took her by the hand. "Come on, let's get back to the Pad, the fellas'll probably be waitin' for us."

Together they walked back through the library, where Annabelle was waiting at the front desk. From the way she looked at the couple, Aisling could tell she was waiting for them. Walking towards the front desk, Aisling couldn't help feeling like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, like she could do anything with Mike on her side. But she also felt a little worried about telling Peter, Davy and Micky everything that occurred over the past three days, and she hoped that they would believe her. She briefly thought about telling Jesse about her fledgling 'relationship' and weighed up the pros and cons of telling him everything she learned about the voice and what it had to do with her and two of the Monkees. 'I've told Mike, I'm going to tell Peter, Micky and Davy,' she thought, 'So I'm not going to keep Jesse in the dark too. He has the right to know just as much as the others do.' She smiled. 'Besides, I can't wait to see the look on his face when I tell him he was right!'

* * *

It was no secret that Peter loved Aisling, it was actually quite a well known fact, considering the amount of time they spent together laughing and making music, but he wasn't 'in love' with her in the same way that Mike and Aisling were 'in love' with each other in the romantic sense. No, his love for Aisling fell along the lines of familial love, where the two of them loved one another like brother and sister. Although neither of them could figure out why they were drawn into such a relationship, it wasn't a subject they deemed particularly important enough to discuss, content to continue spending time together without a care in the world. However, at the current point in time, while Aisling was with Mike at the library, Peter was returning from a walk on the beach with Micky and Davy. The three of them were talking about their ideas for new songs, using each other as a sounding board to figure out what worked and what didn't, but they soon found their conversation turning away from their music, instead focusing on the 'potential' relationship, which was far as they knew at the time, between their wool-hatted leader and the beautiful Irish colleen.

"So what do you think they're doing up there?" asked Peter as they got to the foot of the stairs that lead back to the Pad.

"I can make a pretty good guess!" Micky replied with a wink, flashing him a sly grin.

Davy snorted. "Are you two like this whenever I'm with a girl?"

"Nope," Peter replied, shaking his head. He grinned. "But I can't vouch for Micky."

"HEY!" Micky cried indignantly. "I'm not THAT bad, am I?

Peter's grin grew wider. "No," he said with a chuckle, "You're worse!"

Davy smirked. "He's got a point there, Mick."

"What, so now you're ganging up on me?"

"Nah, we're just kidding around, man, it's a joke."

Peter held up his thumb and forefinger, bringing the two digits close together until there was only a tiny gap between them. "Little joke," he said, smiling serenely, "about this big."

Micky laughed. "Very funny, Pete."

"You still didn't answer my question though, guys," Peter continued, "What DO you think they're doing up there?"

"How are we supposed to know, Peter?" asked Micky, taking a seat on the steps, "Do Davy and I look like we're psychic?"

"Of course not!" Peter exclaimed, sitting down next to him, "That's not what I meant, Micky, and you know it!"

"He's right though, Peter," said Davy, leaning against the railing, "We can't tell you what we don't know ourselves."

Peter frowned. "But I didn't ask you if you KNEW what they're doing, I asked you what you THINK they're doing!" His frown turned back into a grin. "It's a totally different question, man."

Davy blinked, beginning to understand what Peter meant. "Well..." he began, "I think they're, uh, talking, yeah, 'cause that's what I'd do if I'd been left alone with a girl."

"Before or after you've sucked her face off?" asked Micky.

"After," Davy replied with a laugh. He grinned. "You fellas should know me well enough by now!"

Peter rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Dave, we know you a little TOO well, or do we need to remind you about Angelita and El Diablo?"

"Or Wendy Forsythe and Prince Ludlow?" Micky added, picking up on Peter's train of thought.

"Or Ellie Reynolds and the not-quite-haunted house?" Peter continued.

"Or Susan, the Ringmaster's daughter?"

"Or Lorelei, the vampire?"

"Or Fern, Mrs. Badderly's daughter?"

"Okay, okay, fellas, I get it!" Davy cried in annoyance, cutting them off, "I know I'm always getting us into trouble, and yes, there IS usually a girl involved, but we're not talking about me, we're talking about Aisling and Mike!" He frowned, "Although, it sounds pretty quiet up there, you'd think if they were talking, we'd hear something."

Peter shrugged. "Maybe they're being quiet in case they think we're spying on them?"

Davy and Micky exchanged a look, both of them raising their eyebrows. The possibility that Mike and Aisling thought the trio were going to spy on them was something that hadn't crossed their minds until Peter, whom they normally thought to be 'the dummy', brought it up.

Micky stood from his seat. "I think we should investigate," he announced. "Just to make sure they're still in there, of course." He turned and began walking up the stairs, Davy following close behind him.

"But... but..." Peter started, quickly standing up and following them up the staircase, "Shouldn't we be respecting their privacy?"

"Pshaw, where's the fun in THAT, Pete?" Micky called back. "It's not like we're not gonna let them see us!"

Peter sighed and continued up the stairs, expecting to join Micky and Davy on the balcony, only to find them going inside the beach house. "Hey!" he cried as he walked through the door,, "You said they weren't going to see us!"

"Relax, mate, they're not here," said Davy, picking up the note Mike had left on the kitchen table and showing it to Peter. "Aisling wanted to show him something, so they've gone to the library. But Mike didn't say when they'd be back." His attention was drawn to the sound of a car parking outside. "That's probably them now," he mused, going to the front door to find out who had arrived. Since his height made looking through the peephole useless, Davy opened the door and looked outside. It was Jesse, walking up the path towards the house. "Hey Jesse," he greeted from the doorway, "If you're looking for Aisling, she's not here."

"I know," Jesse replied, as Davy let him into the Pad, "She called me from her house, told me that Mike was waiting for her and then asked if I could meet them back here. She sounded really happy though, and from the experiences I've had with her in the past, if she's really happy, and I mean REALLY happy, then something's up." He looked back at the road through the front door, when the familiar sound of the MonkeeMobile's engine filled the air. "And if something's up," Jesse continued, a mischievous grin on his face, "I think we're about to find out."

He didn't realise just how right he was.

* * *

Half an hour later, after exchanging pleasantries and small talk, Aisling, Jesse, and the Monkees gathered in the living room. Once they all found a place to sit, there was a brief silence, then, at Mike's gentle encouragement, Aisling began to recount everything she'd been through since she first heard the voice at the library. There was a slight quiver in her voice as she spoke, Peter noticed, and he saw there was the faintest trace of tears in her eyes whenever she glanced in his direction. He sensed the sadness she felt about bringing it all into the open, and a small part of him wanted to comfort her because of it, but, from the protective manner in which Mike held her in his arms, close to him with no intention of letting her go, Peter realised that comforting her wasn't his job to do. Not now. He watched her lean back against Mike, who pressed a soft kiss to her ear. It was this simple gesture that brought a smile to Peter's face. It also confirmed what he, Micky and Davy suspected since the two of them had returned from the library.

Aisling and Mike were now 'together'.

But while Peter, Micky and Davy were pleased by this development, Jesse, on the other hand, looked at them in shock. "Well, it's about time!" he cried, a wide grin blooming across his face, "I was beginning to think the two of you'd be dancing around each other for the rest of your lives!"

Aisling smiled and rolled her eyes, her initial sadness melting away. "Have ye listened to a word I've said? Or is Mike's apparent inability to keep his hands off me distractin' ye?" Mike gave her a playful swot on the arm, making her giggle. "See?"

Jesse laughed. "I was listening, Ais, but I'm a little shocked, that's all. Although..." His eyes darkened in mock seriousness, and the hint of a grin flashed across his face, "If he hurts you," he continued, pointing at Mike, "Count on me to be the first in line to pound him into the ground."

Mike grinned. "I'd be surprised if you weren't!" His grin faded. "But seriously now, fellas; do you believe her?" he asked, directing the question to all of their audience.

The four young men looked at each other carefully as if they were deciding what they were going to say, and which one of them was going to say it. At long last, they mutually agreed that Peter would be their spokesman.

Peter stood from his seat. "We believe you," he began, looking back the others, "We all do, but, uh, Micky and Davy and Jesse..." he paused, and looked at the floor, "They want to see some kind of proof."

Aisling and Mike looked at each other grimly. They'd been expecting something like this, and thankfully, by going to Aisling's house first and picking up all the books she'd borrowed, they could provide the proof they needed. Reluctantly, they separated and Aisling stood to retrieve her backpack from its place by the door. She brought it to the coffee table and took out each book, placing them on the table top.

"Everything ye want to know is in these books, fellas," she said, returning to her place beside Mike on the psychiatrists couch, "But if ye don't want to read through them all, open the first one with the bookmark in it. I think you'll be surprised by what ye find."

Micky and Jesse moved quickly trying to reach for the book at the same time, but when Jesse didn't get there fast enough, Micky snatched it neatly off the top of the stack, and opened it to the page which Aisling had marked. What he saw nearly made him fall out of his seat, before passing it to Davy, who almost did the same thing when handing it to Jesse.

Jesse took one look at the page and swallowed. "I think you should see this, man," he said, handing the book to Peter. "I really think you should see this."

Wordlessly, Peter looked at the photograph on the page, and saw... himself. More precisely, he saw his doppelganger. He looked at Aisling, now understanding why she'd looked so sad when she told them her story. Not only did the photograph contain HIS double, it also contained hers, AND Mike's. He turned to Micky, Davy and Jesse. "Could you fellas leave us alone?" he asked. "I want to talk to Mike and Aisling, in private."

Jesse nodded. "Sure, Peter." He ushered Micky and Davy out to the beach, despite their protests, leaving Peter, Aisling and Mike alone to work things out.

"So," Peter said after the others had left, "Want to tell me what this has to do with me?"

"They're us," Aisling replied simply. "Or we used to be them, depending on how ye want to look at it." She leaned against Mike, "We, that's to say me and Mike, were married to each other, and ye... ye were my brother." She sighed. "I know it sounds crazy, Peter, but if there was ever a time I needed you to believe me, without question, it's now."

"She's right, good buddy," Mike added, "We need you to help us convince the fellas to go on a little road-trip with us. Everything's gonna get sorted out when we get there, but we want to be sure you'll help us first."

Peter looked torn. "Is this your idea of a joke?" he asked, "Because if it is, then it's a really bad joke."

Aisling shook her head. "No, Peter, this isn't a joke." She stood, then walked towards him. "Will you help me?" she pleaded, embracing him, "Please?"

"I can't refuse you, can I?" he sighed. He ran a hand through his long blonde hair, "All right, I'll help."

"Oh I knew ye would!" she cried happily, before kissing Peter on the cheek. "Hold on a sec," she said, walking to the door that lead to the balcony, "I'll go and get the others, then we'll tell them all about the trip!"

"This is going to get us into trouble, isn't it Mike?" Peter asked quietly, when Aisling was out of earshot..

"Yep," Mike replied. "If we're not already."

Peter rolled his eyes. "At least it's not Davy, for a change."

"Yeah, but now I know how he feels when it's his fault." Mike smiled. "But I'm not goin' to complain about it, though, because I love her."

"Hold on," Peter frowned, before smiling playfully, "Who are you, and what have you done with the real Mike Nesmith?"

Mike laughed. "I am the real Mike Nesmith, and don't you forget it, shotgun!"

"But seeing you with a girl, even a girl like Aisling..." Peter scratched the back of his neck, "It's not bad, just..."

"New?"

"Yeah."

"Nothing wrong with feelin' a little uncomfortable for a while."

"I'm not uncomfortable with it, Mike, in fact I think it's GOOD that you've got a girl, but," Peter picked up the book and looked at the photograph again, "Something about this thing worries me. Where is it that Aisling wants us to go?"

Mike looked uncomfortable. "Uh, it's in Kansas."

"Kansas?"

"That's why we want you to help us convince Micky and Davy to go on a road-trip with us."

Peter grinned. "Well ,they're not gonna take much convincing, man, just mention the words 'road' and 'trip' in the one sentence and they'll agree to it in minutes!"

Mike smirked and rolled his eyes. "I know THAT, Peter, but none of us know Jesse as well as Ais does, so I don't know if he'd be as willing, or eager, to go with us as much as Mick and Dave might."

Peter nodded. "Yeah, there is that."

"We'll just to play it by ear, good buddy, and see how everything turns out," Mike said, leaning back on the psychiatrist's couch. "Then we'll know what's goin' on." He looked over at the back door in time to see Aisling lead Jesse, Micky and Davy into the house.

There was a big grin on Aisling's face when she came and sat down next to Mike. "I've told this lot over here about the road-trip to Kansas," she explained, pointing to Micky, Jesse and Davy. "They latched on to the idea straightaway!"

"So when are we gonna go?" Jesse asked.

"Straight after the gig coming up," Mike replied. "We should all fit in the MonkeeMobile, so that's no problem, but I'm not sure what to do about our equipment."

"Just bring it with ye," Aisling said, shrugging her shoulders. "The MonkeeMobile's big enough for all of us, and for all of our things." She giggled, "Though it does surprise me, on occasion, how ye managed to have two bench seats AND a trunk, when ye should only have room for one or the other!"

"Don't ask me, shotgun," he said with a grin, "I'm still tryin' to work that one out myself!"

"Well," said Jesse, standing from his seat. "I think it's about time I split. Besides, Micky and Davy said you guys have a rehearsal to finish and I don't want to get in the way."

Mike frowned, "You don't have to go yet, Jesse. Why don't you stay and watch us?" He smiled, "It might make Aisling feel more comfortable about the gig."

"You sure it's okay?"

"Yeah, it's cool."

Aisling looked at Mike with mock annoyance. "Oi! Don't I get a say in this?"

Mike caressed her cheek. "No."

"In that case," she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder, "If ye want me to play any music with ye again," she continued, grabbing a cushion off one of the nearby chairs, "You have to catch me first!" she finished, using the cushion to hide their faces from the others while she stole a kiss. "I might make it worth your while later if ye do," she whispered breathily, kissing him again.

"Let me try and catch you first," he replied, "We'll talk about the rest later."

Aisling put the cushion down on the psychiatrist's couch. She smirked. "All right then, just don't keep me waitin'!" Upon saying this, Aisling gave Mike a kiss on the cheek, then turned on her heel and fled, the peals of laughter coming from her friends echoing in her ears. Shooting a quick glance over her shoulder, she saw Mike scrambling to his feet and following her. She lead him all the way around the house, to the other's amusement, before running out to the balcony and down the stairs to the beach. When it became clear that the only one actively chasing her was Mike, which was what she'd wanted regardless, Aisling slowed to a walking pace, stopping only when she felt Mike come up from behind and wrap his arms around her.

"I caught you," he said quietly, pressing a kiss to her hair.

"I know."

"I love you."

"I know."

Aisling sighed. "I'm sorry I did that, I just wanted to get out of the house for a moment or two."

"It's okay. I thought you might've wanted a chance to breathe. But why did you say I had to chase you?"

"I just wanted to do somethin' funny, I suppose," she said, turning around to face him, resting her hands on his shoulders. "Besides, this is the one thing I do not wish to do in front of an audience," she added, pulling him into a passionate kiss.

* * *

Once Aisling and Mike returned from the beach, the rest of the rehearsal progressed without further incident. This gave Aisling the chance to relax, basking in the warmth of her friends, and her love. She looked at Mike from her position behind the keyboard and smiled. 'He loves me,' she thought, 'He really does love me, even after everything I told him.' She sighed. 'I don't deserve him really, I don't even know what he sees in me that's worth loving!' She sniffled, blinking back tears. "I don't deserve him," she murmured, "I really don't deserve him. But I love him, and that's all that matters."

Putting his guitar on its stand, Mike came and sat next to Aisling at the keyboard. "Hey," he said noticing the tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "What's wrong, babe?" he asked, gently putting his arms around her.

"I'm okay, just... trying to think of what I did to deserve you."

"You're you," Mike replied. "Does that count?" Listening to their conversation from his seat behind the drums, Micky started to make gagging noises, which prompted Mike to glare at him, "Now cut that out!"

Micky laughed as he got up out of his seat. "Sorry, Mike, it's getting a bit too mushy for me," he said, before heading upstairs.

Jesse grinned. "That goes for me too, sorry Ais."

"No, it's okay. We'll try and tone it down a bit, or wait until we're alone."

"Forget it," he said with a shrug, adding, "I think I'm gonna split anyway. Bye Ais, see you later fellas."

"Bye Jess," Aisling called, "Don't forget about the gig, or the trip."

"I won't!" he replied, heading out the front door.

After he was gone, Peter smiled and turned to Davy. "Hey man, I think we should go work on some music with Micky," he said, but from the look on his face, he clearly meant 'Let's leave the lovebirds alone.'

Davy nodded. "Yeah, all right," he agreed. It made perfect sense to him that Peter would use working on their music as the best excuse to leave the room, and he followed Peter up the stairs and into Micky's room without question.

As Aisling watched them leave, she leaned closer to Mike, using his chest as a makeshift headrest. The gentle thumping of his heartbeat caressed her ear. She closed her eyes, listening to it. Listening to him. It was like the sound had a calming effect on her, leading her to slow her own heartbeat until the two of them fell into near perfect sync with each other. It gave her the sense that, for one fleeting moment, they were as one. Before she knew it, Aisling fell asleep in with her hand over Mike's heart.

Scooping her into his arms, Mike carefully navigated his way off the bandstand and carried Aisling to the psychiatrist's couch, laying her down on top of it. 'She looks so peaceful,' he thought. 'I know I should take her home, but I don't want to disturb her. I think I should call her mom, let her know she's staying the night.' He walked to the kitchen, picked up the phone and dialed. "Hi Mrs. O'Callaghan," he greeted. "I hope I'm not disturbing you."

"Hello Michael, " she countered, "No, you're not disturbing me," she reassured him, adding with just a hint of amusement in her voice, "Though ye CAN call me Bridget, ye know."

Mike chuckled. "Yes, ma'am. Uh, I mean, okay, Bridget."

"That's better. Now, is there something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong," Mike replied. "But..."

"But what?" Bridget asked, beginning to sound a little concerned.

Mike froze, and tried to think of the best way to explain to Bridget that her daughter was asleep on his couch. "Well, uh, you see, Aisling is..."

"Aye?"

"She's... uh... she's asleep... on our couch."

Bridget laughed. "Oh, is that all?" she asked, "I was beginning to think she'd fainted again!"

"Wait a minute," said Mike, a little confused by her reaction, "You're not angry?"

"Of course I'm not, you silly boy!" Bridget admonished. "I'd rather she be asleep on your couch, than dead in the street somewhere..." she continued, "and I think you feel the same way, if I'm not mistaken."

"You're right, " he replied softly. "If anything happened to her..." he trailed off, unable to find the words to properly articulate what he meant. But it didn't matter, because he realised Bridget already understood.

He could almost picture the smile on Bridget's face when she said, "You're a good lad, Mike, one of the few I'd consider good enough for me girl. I trust you, and your friends, to keep her safe."

"Thank you," he said, relieved that she had confidence, not just in him, but in Peter, Micky and Davy as well. "I'm glad you feel that way."

"You're welcome," she replied. "She can stay with ye tonight, so ye can bring her home in the morning. Just don't do anythin' I wouldn't do."

Mike smiled. "I won't. Thanks again, Bridget."

"Well, I better let ye go," she said, "I think I've kept ye long enough. That was all ye wanted to tell me, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, that's it. Goodbye Bridget."

"Goodbye Michael."

Mike heard her put down the phone with a click, and then hung up the phone himself. Putting the telephone back under its cover, he glanced at Aisling, who was still asleep. As he watched her, she folded her arms across her body and drew her legs to her chest, contorting herself into a ball. There were goosebumps forming on her arms, he noticed, and she was shivering from the cold. Kicking himself for not thinking about it sooner, Mike quickly went to the linen closet, grabbed a couple of blankets and took them back to the couch, covering Aisling with both of them. 'Now I better tell the fellas Ais is staying the night,' he thought, standing and heading upstairs, walking towards the bedroom he shared with Micky.

"Oh, hey Mike," said Peter as he saw Mike enter the room. "Aisling still here?" he asked. "I thought you'd have taken her home by now."

"Yeah, she's still here. Fell asleep in my arms. I didn't want to wake her, man, so I called Mrs. O'Callaghan and let her know I'm lettin' Ais stay overnight."

Peter looked surprised. "She's staying the night? Isn't that a little fast?"

Mike folded his arms against his chest. "It's not like I'm goin' to DO anything to her, you know." He shrugged. "Besides, her mom trusts us to keep her safe." He shot the three of them a pointed look, "I am NOT goin' to betray that trust, and neither are you. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

"Anyway," Mike continued. "I think we should change sleeping arrangements, just for tonight. I don't wanna leave her down there by herself."

"She can take my bed," Peter offered. "I'll take the couch."

"And you can take my bed, Mike," added Davy. "That way you can stay with her."

Mike regarded his two friends with disbelief. "I didn't expect you to go THAT far, guys!" he said, shifting uncomfortably, "I thought we could bring her upstairs and I'd let her take my bed, to tell the truth."

"That's nice of ye," a voice said softly from the doorway. "But I don't want to put ye, or Peter, out of your beds."

It was Aisling. Upon waking up to find herself on the couch, covered in blankets, she remembered the last thing she'd done was to fall asleep in Mike's arms. Then, when she heard the Monkees talking about changing their sleeping arrangements, she came upstairs and listened from the doorway, touched by each other's insistence that she should take their place.

"So," she said as she stepped into the room. "Stayin' the night, am I?" The smile on her face was warm, and she spoke with amusement in her voice. "Who's decision was that, eh?"

Micky, Peter and Davy all pointed at Mike. "Thanks a lot, fellas," he grumbled.

Aisling laughed, embracing him. "I thought it was," she said, tracing circles in his sideburn with her finger, "Your decision, I mean." A growling noise came from her stomach, making her blush. "Em, I guessin' I'm a little hungry," she said, a look of embarrassment on her face, "and it's not exactly late, so going back to sleep is out of the question..."

"Food!" Micky cried, striking a melodramatic pose. "Our lady needs food, my fine feathered friends!"

Davy clapped his hand over his eyes. "He's gone crackers, crazy, man."

"Feathered?" Peter asked, looking confused.

"Micky," Mike groaned. "Quit foolin' around."

"Oh leave him be," Aisling said, giggling as Micky continued his posing, "He's only tryin' to be funny!"

"He's always tryin' to be funny," Mike replied, rolling his eyes. "But he doesn't know when to stop."

Aisling grinned. "He'll stop when he feels like it," she said, "In the meantime, shall we get somethin' to eat?"

Mike nodded. "Yeah, c'mon, before he starts breakin' things."

Micky stopped what he was doing, and frowned. "Hey, I'm not gonna start breaking things!"

"That's why we're goin' downstairs, Mick," Mike said with an amused smirk, "So you DON'T start breaking things. Okay?"

"Okay."

Once Micky stopped bouncing around, the group finally headed back downstairs, discussing what they were going to have for dinner as they went.

* * *

Later that night, after a meager, but satisfying dinner, the time came for the five of them to go to bed. Micky, Peter and Davy quickly excused themselves from the table and once again, Mike found himself sitting in the kitchen, with Aisling by his side. Without saying a word, she rose from her seat, then allowed him to pull her into his lap. They stared at each other for a moment, as if contemplating what they should do next, then leaned into one another and kissed tenderly. It was like nothing around them existed anymore, and all the fear and heartache Aisling felt because of her discovery seemed to melt away while Mike held her in his arms.

"Can I stay here forever?" Aisling asked quietly, kissing him again.

Mike smiled. "Here, in the Kitchen?"

She giggled. "No, in your arms, ye silly goose," she replied. "Would ye hold me in you arms forever?"

"I don't know," he said, dotting kisses down her jaw line as he spoke. "They might get a bit tired, once in a while. Forever IS a long time, after all."

Aisling smiled sadly. "Aye, it is," she agreed. "Did ye really mean it when ye said you'd let me take your bed and you'd sleep on the couch?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, I was," Mike replied, "I thought you'd be more comfortable that way."

"But then I wouldn't be with you."

"I know."

Aisling got an idea. "We could share your bed?" she suggested. "Just the two of us, asleep in each other's arms, and nothing more." She grinned. "And in the morning, if we wake up to find Micky making fun of us, we can just remind him which one of you had the pretty girl in his bed!"

"That's a thought," Mike said, running her hair through his fingers, "Don't know why I hadn't thought of it before."

"Now that's because you never had a pretty girl in your bed before," she countered, "Asleep... or otherwise."

He kissed her gently. "Girls usually don't go for me," he said, "They take one look at Davy and they're gone."

"I didn't," she replied, then she smiled. "But then again, the first one I saw, when we met, was you. So Davy never came into it at all." She let him kiss her again, savouring every moment they were joined. "I think that I fell in love with ye from the minute I first saw ye."

"I think it took me a bit longer to realise how I felt about you," Mike replied. "But like I said at the library..."

"And at the beach."

"And at the beach," he echoed, smiling then kissing her again, "I love you, Aisling, and I'm not goin' to abandon you. We're goin' to see this thing through."

"So you're goin' to be my protector?"

"If you'll let me."

Aisling grinned. "I think that can be arranged."

"Um, Ais?" Mike begin, but he stopped when she pressed a finger to his lips. He kissed it, making her laugh,

"Shh," she said, when she stopped laughing, "I've had enough of talkin', just kiss me. That's all I want to do right now."

Slowly, she leaned forward and brushed her lips against his own, running her hands through his hair. Meeting her halfway, he deepened the kiss, pulling her closer to him. She whimpered against his mouth, sucking on his full lower lip eagerly. As they broke apart, she gingerly climbed out of his lap and gave him her best 'come hither' smile, then walked to the couch. The blankets he'd covered her with were still lying on it, and after moving them to one side, she sat down, then beckoned him over to sit beside her.

She cocked her head and smiled again when he came over and sat down. He could tell what she wanted from the way she looked at him, and, for some reason he couldn't fathom, he wanted it too. He kissed her slowly, gently, deeply, until his emotions got the upper hand and his kisses became more passionate, more heated. She wanted - no - needed him, and he needed her, just as much as she needed him, if not more.

"I love you," she whispered in between kisses, even though they both knew it didn't need saying. As in all things, actions spoke louder than words. So much had happened to them that day, passing by like a whirlwind, and the love and support he'd given her before, and after she'd shown him the photograph, made her go weak in the knees, and she loved him even more because if it.

In one moment, everything became clear to her, and she realised, whatever happened in the turbulent times to come, she didn't want to let him go, and the only thing that could separate them... was death. But at the same time, she knew death, namely Radha and Gareth's, was what had brought the two of them together, so she knew it wasn't something to be feared. 'Death brings life,' she thought, 'and life... life brings love.'

They never did get back to Mike's room in the end...

* * *


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

The next morning, sunlight streamed softly through the bay window, bathing the room in a warm, bright light. The warmth was a pleasant, and welcome sensation for the two sleepers on the couch in the middle of the living room. The younger of the two stirred, opening her eyes slowly at first, allowing them to acclimatise to the brightness, before opening them fully, taking in her surroundings. She was naked, she realised upon looking down at herself, save for a blanket protecting her modesty from the open air. She rolled over carefully, holding the blanket around herself, to look at the young man lying beside her, who was also covered in a blanket. She smiled as she gently brushed her fingertips across his sideburns, remembering the events of the previous night.

"Good mornin'," she greeted as he opened his eyes, "I was wonderin' when ye would wake up."

He smiled. "Hi," he greeted in return, "Sleep well?"

She leaned over and kissed him. "Very well," she replied, giggling as she pulled away. "But I think we should get dressed before the others wake up and find us like this. Ye know, in the altogether?"

"Yeah, gettin' dressed is a good idea," he agreed, "The fellas seein' the both of us naked, however, is not."

Gathering up her clothes, Aisling headed for the bathroom. "I'll be back in a few minutes," she called over her shoulder. "Unless ye want to join me?" she added, stopping in the doorway and taking a look back at him with a sly smile.

"I may have to take you up on that offer, babe," he said with a grin, "If you don't get in there fast enough."

Aisling laughed. "In that case, I better get in there as quick as I can, eh?" she said, stepping into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

Mike sat up on his elbows and looked around at his clothes strewn across the room. His wool hat had somehow made it onto Mr. Schneider's head, which made the wooden dummy look interesting, to say the least. Getting up with a sigh, he knew he needed to hurry up and get dressed, or risk being caught with his pants down, so to speak, and risk getting an ear-full from Peter about taking things too fast with Aisling. But it didn't feel like they'd taken things too fast, not when he took everything Aisling told him as the truth, and if she was right about them, they'd been together, as Radha and Gareth, for a very long time. Long enough, he reasoned, that they'd fallen in love, married, and probably even consummated their relationship, not necessarily in that order, before they died. To him, it was almost like they'd played out Radha and Gareth's entire relationship in one day, except the only thing he hadn't done yet was propose marriage! But while Mike did love Aisling, marriage was the one thing he wanted to leave alone for a while until they were sure they were both ready for it.

Aisling was fully dressed and drying off her hair with a towel when she returned from the bathroom. She looked at Mike, still picking up his clothes from the floor, and grinned. "The bathroom's free, whenever ye want it," she said. "And I'd hurry up and get in there, if I were you."

"Yes Mom," he replied, walking over and kissing her. He carried his pants and his shirt in one hand, while he held the blanket around himself with the other.

"Do ye want some help with those?" she asked, gesturing to the clothes in his hand, "I could go upstairs and get ye some clean clothes while ye take a shower?"

Mike looked at her hesitantly. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea, babe," he said, "They might figure out what we did last night, and I kinda don't want them to know about that yet." He sighed. "I don't want Peter to think we're moving too fast."

"But we're not really moving too fast, are we?"

"Of course we're not," he replied, sensing her concern, "But the others..."

"Aren't in love with you," she said bluntly, her voice quivering as she spoke. "At least not how I'm in love with you."

He looked at her apologetically. "I know. I'm sorry." He kissed her on the forehead. "I love you too."

Aisling sniffled, then smiled sadly. "Oh, go get in the shower before I chase ye in there, ye rotten sod," she said, giving him a playful swot on the backside as he went past. She walked over to Mr. Schneider, and picked up Mike's wool hat off of the dummy's wooden head. The thought of how it got there, while she and Mike had been 'in the throes of passion', made her smile. She'd thrown the hat, not knowing where it would end up, when they'd decided they were wearing too many clothes and needed to get out of them as fast as they could. "Do ye think my relationship with Mike is goin' to last, Mr. Schneider?" she asked, before adding wistfully, "Or will it die a slow horrible death regardless of whether we want it to or not?" Reaching behind him, she gently pulled the rip cord, waiting for the dummy to answer her question.

"It is better to have loved and lost," it said mechanically, "Than never to have loved at all."

Aisling sighed. "I guess all relationships go through that. One way or another." She frowned. "If you can call what I've got with Mike a 'relationship'."

"Sure it is!" a voice said beside her, causing her to jump with fright, "It just hasn't been a very long one!"

It was Micky, having slid down the banister of the tornado staircase while she was distracted.

"Geez, Mick," she said when she recovered her composure a little, "Ye scared the bejesus out of me!" She eyed him suspiciously. "How long have you been there?" she asked.

"Long enough... to know that Mike's bed wasn't slept in last night." He grinned, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. "By either of you."

"Oh." She blushed. "Ye won't say anythin' to Peter or Davy will ye?"

Micky shook his head. "No. What you and Mike do to, I mean, with each other is your own business."

"Thanks Mick," she replied with relief. "Em, Mike kinda wants to keep things quiet for the time being. Ye dig?"

"I dig."

"Groovy."

Despite her better judgment, Aisling trusted Micky to hold his tongue around Peter and Davy regarding what he knew about her and Mike's 'activities' from the previous night, and she especially didn't want him to let Mike know that he figured out what happened as soon as he woke up and found Mike's bed empty, with no visible evidence that it had been slept in. But she also didn't want Micky to taint her memories of the beautiful experience she'd had by broadcasting what he knew for everyone to hear. Thankfully, Peter and Davy emerged from their bedroom before she had the chance to approach the subject.

"Mornin' fellas," she greeted.

"Morning Ais," Peter replied, giving her a hug. "Sleep well last night?"

Aisling smiled, blushing a little without realising it. "I slept very well, thank you."

"Where's Mike?" Davy asked.

"Right here," said Mike, coming out of the bathroom clad in a bathrobe. "I woke up earlier than usual today, so I thought I'd take a shower."

"So what do we do now?" asked Aisling, walking over and embracing him, eager to hear what they were going to do next. "Have breakfast?"

"I gotta get dressed first," he said, stroking her hair, "But yeah, we can have breakfast now."

Peter smiled. "It's my turn to make breakfast today," he said happily, "But I promise, it won't be anything like my 'Cream of Root Beer' soup!"

"I hope not," she replied, her face turning slightly green, "The last thing we need right now is for one of us to get sick. No offence."

"None taken."

"But isn't that goin' to be a bit of a problem, Peter?" she asked, pointing to his bandaged hand. "I can help ye, if you'll let me?"

Peter nodded. "Okay, Ais."

Micky and Davy, who had been suspiciously quiet in the past few moments, suddenly made a break for the bathroom, both of them trying to get there before the other. Micky almost won, but Davy's height gave him the advantage, ducking under Micky's arm and slipping through the doorway, quickly shutting the door behind him.

"Oh man!" Micky groaned, "The midget's gonna be in there FORVER!"

"That just means ye need to move a little faster," Aisling said, slightly amused by her friends antics. "Ye might win once in a while if ye do."

"You'd think, after living in a house full of girls, I'd have learned to get to the bathroom faster," he grumbled. "But living with Davy makes no difference."

Aisling grinned. "You have my sympathy, Mick."

Micky smiled. "Thanks, Ais."

"Well, I better get upstairs," Mike announced, giving Aisling a quick peck on the lips. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Don't take too long," she whispered.

"I won't."

Reluctantly letting him go, Aisling watched him head up the tornado staircase and disappear into his room. Part of her wanted to follow him, to let him take her in his arms again, to let him do the things that made her feel warm, and safe, and loved. She wanted him to make her feel happy. But instead, Aisling chose to practice her restraint, turning and following Peter to the kitchen.

"So," she said, taking a seat at the kitchen table, "What is for breakfast today, anyway?"

Peter shrugged. "I haven't figured that out yet," he replied as he searched though the cupboards, being careful so he didn't aggravate his injured hand. "I think we've got some bacon around here somewhere, if it's any good, that is. What do you think about bacon and eggs?"

"Bacon and eggs sounds lovely," she said as she rubbed her stomach absently. She actually felt a little nauseous, but for some reason, she couldn't figure out why. "But what are we going to do if you can't find the bacon, or if it's gone bad?"

"Then we have cereal," Peter said, turning to look at her. "Which is becoming more likely by the minute." He frowned. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked, "You're looking a little green."

"No, I'm fine," Aisling replied, smiling weakly. "I think." Her smile brightened. "You're such a sweetheart, Peter. Always taking care of me."

"I like taking care of my friends," he said, "Because they take care of me, and I think that should be returned in kind."

Aisling grinned. "Ye never cease to amaze me, Peter. I always knew you were smart, no matter how hard you try to hide it, but I never knew ye felt that way!"

"Why shouldn't I feel that way?" he asked, "You're all my friends, and I want you all to be happy, so I'll do whatever it takes to make it happen."

"That's nice," she replied, feeling someone putting their hands on her shoulders. "Hey Mike," she said without looking up.

He drew her hair back as he leaned down and kissed her neck. "Hey," he greeted, "How'd you know it was me?"

"I know what ye feel like," she said, breathing in deeply. "And now, I know how ye smell. I like it."

Mike grinned. "I'm glad to know you do."

Peter looked confused. "What are you two talking about?" he asked, "Did something happen last night?"

"Nothing ye need to worry yourself about," Aisling reassured him. "Just forget about it, sweetie."

"Yeah, Pete," Mike agreed, "It's nothing."

"All right," Peter said with a nod, choosing not to argue. Something deep down told him that Mike and Aisling's 'nothing' was a special kind of 'nothing', the sort of 'nothing' that he had no place in questioning. He'd been worried that his two friends were taking things too fast, but he knew that they were both adults, and as adults, they could take their relationship whatever speed they wanted to take it. He opened his mouth to say something, deciding to change the subject, but he stopped when there came a sudden pounding on the front door.

Mike and Peter exchanged a knowing look. "It's Babbitt," they said at the same time.

"Your landlord?" Aisling asked, turning and looking up at Mike. "What does he want?"

"I can think of a couple of things," Mike growled, "Neither of them good."

"Well we're not goin' to get in trouble, are we? He doesn't have rules about guests stayin' the night, does he?"

"He doesn't," said Peter, "But it might not be a good idea if he sees you."

"Why not?"

"He doesn't have rules about guys stayin' the night," Mike explained, "But he does have rules about girls stayin' the night."

Aisling flinched as Mr. Babbitt pounded on the door again. "Oh." She pointed to Peter and Davy's bedroom door. "Do ye want me to hide in there?"

"No."

She looked at him in confusion. "What do ye mean 'no'?"

"Ais, Davy's still in the bathroom. If he comes out and tries to go straight to his room while you're in there..."

Aisling made a face as she stood from her seat, beginning to understand what he was talking about. "I might get an eyeful." The look on her face changed from a grimace to a cheeky grin. "Now, ye see, if it were a different Monkee," she cast a meaningful glance at Mike, "And I liked what I saw," she curled his fingers in her hair, "Then I might not have minded the possibility of gettin' an eyeful!" Mr. Babbit pounded the door again. "I'll go upstairs then," she sighed, "But I'll hide myself as much as I can and watch from the landing." Before Mike could protest, Aisling kissed him, then made her way upstairs.

"NESMITH!" Babbitt roared though the front door, "IF YOU DON'T ANSWER THE DOOR IN FIVE MINUTES, I'LL..."

"You'll what?" Mike asked in annoyance when he answered the door. "Evict us?"

"Don't tempt me, Nesmith, " Babbitt threatened. "You boys are behind on your rent. AGAIN!"

"But we paid you already!" Peter protested.

Babbitt snorted. "That was for December... last year!"

"Look," Mike began, "We've got a gig coming up and we'll pay you as soon as we get paid, all right?"

Luckily, Babbitt seemed to accept this. "I expect the rent, in full, as soon as you've got it, or you're all out of here!"

With the threat of eviction lingering over Mike and Peter's heads, Mr. Babbitt turned on his heel and left. Aisling stood from her hiding place, gazing down at them from the landing with a look of anguish in her eyes. She couldn't understand why the man thought he needed to make threats just to get his money. From what little she knew about Mr. Babbitt, it was like he took pleasure in putting others down, particularly anyone younger than him, who wore their hair long and wore beads and generally looked different. She didn't hate him, because the notion that she shouldn't hate anyone had been ingrained in her mind ever since she could remember. Instead she thought about what she would say, if she could offer her friends any help to pay their rent, to help them get it up to date so they wouldn't become homeless. But she realised that the issue with the Monkees' rent could quickly be resolved when they played their gig, the gig where she was going to take Peter's place.

Mike met her at the foot of the tornado staircase. "Is he always like that?" she asked quietly, "Does he always threaten to throw you out when you can't pay your rent?"

"Yeah," he replied, "But we're used to it by now, and we usually get it fixed before he can carry out his threats." He kissed her gently. "You don't need to be concerned about it, babe. You worry about what we're goin' to do when we get to Kansas."

Aisling frowned. "Thanks for remindin' me," she said. She smiled slightly. "But at least I've got you to distract me when things become too overwhelmin'." She sighed. "But it does put things into perspective for me, though."

"How?"

"Whether or not Mr. Babbitt gets his rent payment is less important than what we have to do in Kansas, at least to me," she replied. "But at the same time," she continued, when Mike began to protest, "Making sure Mr. Babbitt does get your rent is just as important to you as helping me is important to you."

After what had seemed like an eternity, Davy finally came out of the bathroom. "Was Mr. Babbitt just here?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Peter, "He says we're behind again, and he made his usual threats."

"He did?"

"He did."

Davy nodded glumly. "Well, I'm done in there," he said, pointing to the bathroom door with his thumb. "So you or Micky can go next, if you want. I'm going to get dressed."

"Right."

Micky stuck his head out of his bedroom. "Did someone say the bathroom's free?"

"Yes, Micky," Peter called, confirming Micky's suspicions. "Go ahead."

With a whoop of joy, Micky raced out of his bedroom and slid down the banister of the tornado staircase, nearly knocking Aisling down. Or he would have knocked her down, if Mike hadn't pulled her out of the way at the last minute. He ran into the bathroom, ignoring the death glare Mike gave him on his way past.

Mike was not impressed. "Geez, Micky!" he cried, "Watch where you're goin, will you!?!"

"Sorry Mike!"

Aisling smiled. "Ye got me out of the way in time, love. I'm fine. Ye don't need to bite his head off!"

"Sorry Ais," he sighed. "I just don't want to see you get hurt, even by accident."

"I know," she replied, kissing him tenderly. "Come on, let's help Peter with breakfast before he destroys the kitchen."

Mike nodded. "And then, afterwards, we're goin' to take a walk on the beach. Just the two of us."

"I'd like that."

"Then," he continued, "We'll have another rehearsal."

Aisling sighed. "And then you'll take me home?"

"And then I'll take you home."

* * *

The day went by quickly, far too quickly for Mike and Aisling's liking, and, although she didn't really want to admit it, Aisling was beginning to dread the trip home. She knew it had to happen eventually, but the thought of being separated from Mike, even for just one night, made her miserable. It wasn't that Aisling didn't love her mother, or that she didn't want to see her, but she felt like something was going to happen that night, another dream, or maybe a nightmare, neither of which she needed or wanted. Mike picked up on this while driving Aisling home, knowing that whatever affected her also affected him.

"Are you okay, babe?" he asked, making sure he kept his eyes on the road.

Aisling shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "This is probably goin' to make me sound like a terrible daughter, but.."

"But what?"

"I don't want to go home," she admitted, moving closer to him, "I want to stay with ye. With everythin' that's happened these past few days, I feel safer when I'm in your arms." She looked at him sadly. "Does that make me a terrible daughter?"

"No," Mike replied, "Of course it doesn't."

"Then why do I feel so scared about leaving ye?"

Mike frowned, trying to think of the best way to answer. "I don't know," he said at last.

"Oh."

The rest of the drive was spent in silence.

When they pulled up along the sidewalk out the front of Aisling's house, Aisling wondered if she should ask Mike to come inside with her and meet her mother properly. He'd told her that he spoke to her mother on the phone, so they at least knew what each other sounded like, but she thought it might help set her mind at ease about coming home if she kept Mike with her for as long as time would allow them.

"Well, here we are," said Mike, bringing the car to a stop. "You're home."

"Yeah," Aisling agreed, "Guess I am." She took a deep breath, deciding that if she was going to ask Mike about meeting her mother, she needed to do it now. "Do ye want to come inside?" she asked, "Meet me Mam?"

Mike looked at her in surprise. "Are you sure about that?"

"Of course I'm sure!" she cried, "Do ye think I'd be askin' if I wasn't?"

"All right. I'll come."

With a squeak of delight, she leant forward and kissed him, happy that she'd get to stay with him just a little longer. He accepted the kiss eagerly, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. Neither of them realised that Bridget was watching from the window, a pleasant, loving smile on her face. She always knew that Aisling had feelings for the wool-hatted Monkee, but she also knew that her darling daughter was completely and utterly terrified that he'd reject her. So seeing them together, looking completely and totally in love with each other, was the most wonderful surprise she could have ever received. Whatever had brought them together, Bridget was glad that it did.

"Come on," said Aisling as they ended the kiss. "It's time you met my Mam."

Mike got out of the car, then turned around held out his hand to Aisling. "May I help you step out of the car, my lady?" he asked.

Aisling giggled, and took Mike's offered hand. "Aye, kind sir, you may," she replied, allowing him to help her out of the MonkeeMobile. Once Aisling remembered to pick up her backpack from the middle bench seat, the two of them were ready to go to the front door.

When Bridget answered the door, Aisling couldn't help feeling a little nervous, since it was the first time that her mother would see them together before they went away. She'd introduced former boyfriends to Bridget in the past, and those meetings had gone smoothly, but then those relationships had fallen apart soon afterwards with little warning or any reason why, although she did suspect that all the time she spent with Jesse and with the Monkees made her past boyfriends jealous enough that they decided breaking things off was the easiest option.

"Hi Mam," she greeted, smiling nervously, "Mike told me he called ye. I hope ye weren't worried about me last night."

Bridget smiled. "I wasn't worried, Agra, at least not after he told me you'd fallen asleep and didn't want to disturb ye." She stepped out of the doorway and started to wave them inside. "Come in, both of ye, before it gets cold."

Aisling grinned. "Ye always say that, Mam, but it doesn't get THAT cold in California!" She laughed. "Besides, it's Spring!"

"Then explain to me why he," Bridget pointed to Mike, "wears that woollie hat, when it doesn't get that cold in California?"

"Oh, that's easy, Bridget," said Mike. "My Mom made this hat for me, before I left Texas and moved here, " he explained, "I wear it to remind me of her."

Bridget smiled. "That's sweet of you."

"Aye, it is," Aisling agreed, moving closer to Mike. "I can hope someone feels the same way about me one day."

"We'll just have to work on that, won't we?"

Bridget noticed Aisling turn away, blushing madly, but with a wide smile on her face. It didn't take much to figure out what she was thinking about, but it worried Bridget that they might be taking things too fast, not thinking about the consequences of their actions before they did anything they might regret later.

Aisling took a deep breath, then looked up at her mother. "Wouldn't it be better if we continued this inside?" she asked, "I didn't think we'd spend so much time chatterin' in the doorway."

Bridget nodded. "Of course."

A few hours later, after making up a plausible story explaining the events of the past few days, carefully omitting anything that Bridget might think a little strange, the time came for Mike to leave. With a heavy heart, Aisling lead him to the door, following him outside. Despite the new plateau they'd reached in their somewhat brief relationship, the air between Mike and Aisling was unusually tense and stale.

"I'll see ye tomorrow, then?" she asked, drawing circles in the dirt with the toe of her shoe.

Mike nodded. "Yeah," he replied, "The doctor wants to see us about Peter's hand in the morning, then we're goin' home to rehearse afterwards. Then there's the gig tomorrow night."

"Then the trip."

"Yeah."

"So, do ye want me to meet you back at the Pad?"

"Actually, I was wonderin' if you wanted to come with us. To the doctor's, I mean."

She nodded. "Okay."

He smiled. "Good."

"Kiss me. Now." She took a step towards him, a pleading look in her eyes. "Before I fall apart where I stand."

Mike relaxed, walking towards her, and closing the gap between them. Without a moment of hesitation, he took Aisling in his arms and kissed her. Although they knew they'd see each other in the morning, the few hours that would pass during the night seemed like an eternity, and they held on to each other tightly. Neither of them wanted to let go, like the ground itself would split open and swallow them up if they did.

"I'll see ye tomorrow," Aisling whispered as she broke the kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Kissing her one last time, Mike turned and headed back to the MonkeeMobile. As she watched him leave, Aisling slowly walked to the curb, the warmth of Mike's kiss lingering on her lips, and sat down. With every minute, the trip to Kansas was drawing nearer and nearer, and, even though Mike and the others were going to be there with her, she couldn't help feeling terrified. Anything could happen, and she was going to try her best to not let anyone, or anything, stand in her way.

She just hoped she'd be able to live up to her expectations.

* * *

The clock in the hall chimed midnight as Aisling settled down to sleep. It felt strange to sleep alone, especially so soon after being with Mike, so it took a while to get comfortable, at first, but once she drifted off to sleep everything felt better. At least it did, until she began to dream.

Aisling found herself standing in a bedroom, wearing a gown of the most luxurious green velvet. She looked around for anything that could give her a clue to where she was, but, despite how hard she tried, she couldn't find anything useful. She felt a odd sense of familiarity about the room, like she'd been there before, but she couldn't figure out how.

"Are you all right, Radha?"

'Radha?' she thought as she turned around, 'Who on earth would call me... Oh dear lord!'

"Radha, you look like you've seen a ghost!" said Gareth, leaning against the doorframe. "Are you all right?" he asked again.

"I'm, uh, I'm fine," Aisling replied, when the shock wore off and she finally found her voice again. "Why shouldn't I be?"

"Because you're looking at me like my head's fallen off."

Aisling tried hard to suppress the urge to laugh, failing miserably when she dissolved into a fit of giggles. She collapsed on to the bed, still giggling and wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. "I'm sorry, Gareth," she apologised, "I don't know what came over me!"

"It's all right, dear one," Gareth replied, walking into the room and sitting down beside her on the bed. "You're probably just worried about the next shipment of 'cargo'."

She swallowed. "Aye, that's it. I'm just worried about the next shipment of 'cargo'."

"It's understandable that your worried," he continued. "What with the shipments going missing every so often."

Aisling frowned. This revelation about the 'cargo' going missing was new to her, and new did not necessarily mean good. "The shipments are going missing?"

Gareth looked at her in surprise. "Yes, they've been going missing for months now!" He frowned. "Don't you remember?" he asked, "You were completely distraught after the first one."

"Of course I was. I must've forgotten about it."

"Now that, my love, is not like you."

Aisling decided to try something. "Do we know where the shipments are going?"

"No, we don't," Gareth replied with a sigh. "But Finn's trying to find out what's going on, so hopefully we should have some news soon."

For some reason this did not fill Aisling with a lot of confidence. "Finn's trying to find the shipments?"

Gareth nodded. "He's been making enquiries about them ever since the first one disappeared."

"How many shipments have disappeared since the first one did?"

"Three or four. They're disappearing so fast it's getting difficult to keep track of them."

Aisling stood abruptly. She realised if she wanted to learn more, then she needed to talk to Finn. "Do ye know where he is?" she asked. "Please, Gareth, I really need to know!"

"Don't tell me you forgot that too!"

"Forget what, Gareth?"

"He's not here, Radha, he's taking another shipment to Mexico!"

Aisling's heart sank. "Do ye know when he'll be back?"

"Not for a few days," Gareth replied, standing up beside her. "What's so urgent you need see him?"

Aisling froze, trying desperately to think of a good excuse. 'Why do I need to talk to Finn?' she thought to herself, 'Because I need to find out about the missing slaves.' She sighed. "I guess I just miss him," she lied, hoping that she sounded the slightest bit convincing, "I didn't realise he left again so soon."

Gareth looked at her suspiciously. "Are you sure you're all right?" he asked again, "You've been acting very strange today." He grinned. "Maybe this will make you feel better," he said, then he kissed her.

Aisling resisted as first, then melted into Gareth's arms, kissing him in return. 'He even kisses like Michael,' she thought, starting to feel a little guilty. 'I shouldn't be doing this, I'm not his wife! Not now, at any rate!' As hard as she tried to rationalise what she was doing, Aisling couldn't help feeling like she was betraying Mike just being in the room with Gareth, let alone kissing him! 'This is just a dream,' the little voice in her head told her, 'This is just a dream and you're going to wake up at any minute and everything's going to be fine.' Ending the kiss, Aisling stepped back, trying to put enough distance between Gareth and herself to avoid the temptation of kissing him again.

"I... I..." she stammered, "I am not your wife, Gareth. I'm not Radha."

Gareth stared at her, folding his arms in front of his chest. "Are you playing jokes on me again?"

Aisling inwardly groaned. It made sense to her that Radha would play silly jokes on people, because she would often do the same, particularly if Micky or Jesse were encouraging her. "I'm not playing jokes," she insisted, "Please, you've got to believe me when I say I'm not your wife!"

"So, if you're not Radha," Gareth said with a sigh, deciding to play along, still thinking she was playing jokes. "Who are you?"

"My name is Aisling, and, uh, in a roundabout way, I'm a friend of your wife," she explained. "See, she came to me, I mean, I heard her voice at the library, and since then I've been through quite a lot of weird things."

"Like what?"

"I, uh, I see ghosts, and not too long ago I had a dream. That dream showed me things about Radha, and Finn, and you, and while I don't know the whole story, I know that what I'm getting is important."

Gareth looked intrigued. "The whole story?" he asked, "The whole story of what?"

"About your de - " she began, stopping herself before she could say, "About your death." Instead, she looked down at the floor and said, "I can't tell you. It wouldn't be right if you knew."

"What don't you want me to know?"

"I can't tell you!" she repeated angrily, "I'm sorry, Gareth, but I can't!"

Aisling closed her eyes, willing the dream to come to an end with all her might. She thought about Mike, and the gig, and everything waiting for her out in the real world. When she opened her eyes again to find Gareth still standing before her, a bemused expression on his face, she almost burst into tears. Hitching up her skirts, she took off at a run, to Gareth's surprise, never stopping once for breath until she made her way outside to the hill that Radha had shown her in her previous dream.

"WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO, RADHA?" she yelled to the sky. "WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?" Aisling sank to the ground, muttering to herself, "I can't do this, I can't do this, I can't do this!"

"What can't ye do?" a soft voice asked, a hand gently shaking her shoulder. "Aisling, darlin', what can't ye do?"

Aisling took a deep breath, then looked up as the world around her shifted out of focus, until she saw her mother swim into view, hovering over her with a concerned look in her eyes. She sat up, realising that she was awake, the dream over for the time being.

"I woke up and heard ye shoutin'!" Bridget said. "I found ye tossin' and turnin', so I thought I should wake ye up to see if ye were okay."

"It's okay, Mam, I had a bad dream or nightmare, I think," Aisling smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I'll be fine. Ye don't need to worry."

Bridget nodded reluctantly. "All right, Agra, go back to sleep. I'll see ye in the mornin'."

Once she was gone, Aisling lay back on her bed and closed her eyes, trying to get back to sleep, but all she could think about was the new information she learned from her dream. Slaves had been going missing, about three or four shipments, according to Gareth. Aisling wondered if Radha, Gareth, and Finn's deaths were connected to the slave's disappearances, and, if they were connected, how were they connected?

With a heavy heart, Aisling rolled over and slowly drifted off to sleep, the questions turning over in her mind left answered.

But they wouldn't remain that way for too much longer...

* * *

The next day, after Peter's doctor's appointment, Aisling and the Monkees gathered for one final rehearsal before the gig later that night. Although Peter still couldn't play yet, he was pleased to find out that the worst of his cut had healed enough that the stitches could come out, then the rest of it could be covered by a couple of band-aids until it was completely healed.

"That's great, Peter," said Aisling when he told her. "I won't regret being out of a job when you're all better. It wouldn't be 'The Monkees' without you, after all."

Peter blushed. "Thanks, Ais. But you'll still do a good job, even if it's just for tonight."

"Well, I know she can do it," said Mike, sitting down beside Aisling on the edge of the bandstand.

This time it was Aisling's turn to blush. "Ye didn't need to say that!" she cried, before adding, "Besides, I wasn't about to let you fellas give up your gig because Peter hurt himself."

Mike grinned. "And I'm glad we didn't have to." He stood and picked up his guitar. "But if we're goin' to be ready for tonight, we gotta have one more rehearsal."

Micky groaned. "Awe, Mike! Do we HAVE to rehearse everything again?" he whined.

"Yeah, Mick. We gotta make sure we stay on top of things, don't we?"

"I guess so."

"And we need to work out the set list, don't we?"

Micky sighed. "Yeah, that too."

Aisling stood up, kissed Mike on the cheek, and then took her place behind the keyboard. "So, what are we goin' to start with today, oh fearless leader?" She glanced at Micky, who had his mouth open as if to say something, then she added "And if ye say 'I'm a Believer' one more time, I will shoot ye, Micky."

"And I'll let her," said Mike. "So I'd be careful if I were you, Mick."

"You two are no fun!" Micky grumbled.

"Oh we're fun, Mick," Aisling said, grinning and sharing a knowing look with Mike, "But we know when to rein ourselves in!"

"And I don't?"

"No, Micky," said Peter, "You don't."

Micky turned to Davy. "I know how to behave, don't I?" he asked.

Davy smirked. "Of course you know how to behave, man! You know how to behave badly!"

Aisling laughed. "I swear, Micky, sometimes you act like a little kid!"

"But I'm a GOOD little kid, aren't I?"

"Sometimes."

"Anyway," said Mike, trying to steer the conversation back to what song they were start with. He looked at Aisling, "What do you think we should start with, babe?"

"Why are ye askin' me? It's your band, your choice."

Mike nodded. "In that case, how about one of mine? Papa Gene's Blues?"

Micky grinned. "Sounds good to me!"

Mike counted off and the group launched into the song. The lyrics took on a new meaning for Aisling, before then she would have just interpreted them as a man talking about his love for a girl, how he made her feel when they were together and how he knew she loved him in return, but now... now Aisling knew, in some small way, that he was talking about her. She looked at him while he sang, and smiled when their eyes met, their voices blending as they sang the chorus. They sang to each other, pouring all of their love into the music.

"That sounded really great, guys!" Peter cried when they finished, "You've got to play that one first!"

Aisling smiled. "I agree, that was the best I've heard you sing it, Mike."

"Thanks Ais," Mike replied. He put down his guitar and walked over to her. "Guess I was just waitin' for the right girl to come along," he whispered in her ear. "You helped give my song more meaning."

"I'm glad I could help," she whispered back. "I love you."

A few hours later, the rehearsal was over. Peter went to change his band-aids, while Micky and Davy went to the beach, leaving Mike and Aisling together in the living room. They sat together on the edge of the bandstand, discussing Aisling's latest dream.

"He told you that shipments of slaves were going missing?" Mike asked.

"Yeah," Aisling replied. "I'm beginning to wonder if Radha, Finn and Gareth's deaths and the disappearing slaves are connected."

"Maybe someone thought you needed to know about it," said Peter as he came out of the bathroom. "So when we get to Kansas, you can find out what the connection is."

Aisling frowned. "That's probably what I'm goin' to have to do," she said, "But I'm afraid of what I'm goin' to find."

Mike put his arm around her. "You don't need to worry about that, Ais, Peter and I are goin' to protect you."

"I know ye will, both of ye, I don't doubt it for a minute that ye wouldn't."

"So what was Gareth like?" asked Peter. "Was he anything like Michael?"

Aisling swallowed. "He was... nice," she replied. "A total gentlemen. I understand why Radha loved him. He knew her so well." She rest her head on Mike's shoulder and took him by the hand. "It made me want you actually, because he reminded me of you so much."

"You think I'm a gentleman?" Mike asked.

"Aye, but that's because your Mom raised ye well."

Peter looked thoughtful. "Why does this feel like the calm before the storm?" he asked. "How come it feels like everything's about to wrong?"

"Probably because it is," Aisling replied. "This is probably goin' to be the last time we're together, happy as clams, before everything starts falling down around our ears."

"We'll be there to catch you, Ais, when it does," said Peter. The determination in his eyes surprised Aisling, so much so, that she felt no doubts about his intention to live up to everything he said. "All of us."

Aisling smiled. "Thanks, Peter," she said, "I just hope you're right."

And, for all their sakes, she really did hope he was.

* * *

It was the night of the gig, and Aisling was nervous. She was terrified that something was going to go wrong, despite all the rehearsals, and despite all the help that Peter had given her to prepare her for the show. She sat in the dressing room, staring at herself in the mirror and chewing her nails. But it wasn't just the gig making her nervous. It was the fact that with every passing moment, the trip to Kansas was looming nearer and nearer. She picked up a tube of lipstick and started to apply it, dabbing it carefully so it didn't smudge. Normally she loved putting on make up and making herself look good, because it was a necessary part of her life when it came to her ballroom dancing, but to do it at the moment made the action feel more like a chore. She grabbed a couple of tissues from the box underneath the mirror and blotted her lips with them to get rid of the excess lipstick. She looked up when she heard the sound of a door opening and closing come from behind.

"Hey Aisling," Mike greeted, walking over and wrapping his arms around her. "Ready for your debut as a honorary Monkee?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Aisling replied, "I'm a bit scared, but that's normal, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's normal. But you don't have to worry, 'cause the fellas and I are goin' to be right there with you."

"Where are the others?"

"They're setting up. Peter's trying to help, but we've told him to be careful."

"That's good, we don't need him getting hurt again." Aisling giggled. "I didn't agree to multiple engagements, thank ye very much!"

Mike pressed a kiss to her hair. "You don't really mean that, do you?"

"It depends what kind of engagement we're talkin' about," Aisling replied, smiling shyly. "But I'm not goin' to press the issue."

"Have you had any more ideas about your dream?"

"I still don't know what to make of it. I think our best chance of learnin' anythin' is to get to that winery."

"What do you think we'll find when we get there?"

Aisling sighed. "I don't know, Mike. I really don't know. I've gone through all the books I borrowed from the library... TWICE! And not once do any of them mention slaves disappearin'!"

"Do you think there might have been some sort of cover-up?"

"If there was, then it's a pretty good one. There's absolutely nothing about it."

"It must be important though, because you wouldn't have had that dream if it wasn't."

"That's true."

"Anyway, the fellas are waitin' for us to help them set up, so we better go."

Aisling nodded. "Okay."

She followed Mike out to the stage area, where Micky and Davy were setting up the drum-kit and the microphones. Peter, on the other hand, was setting up the keyboard next to his bass guitar. He was putting the sheet music on the stand so it was easier for Aisling to see them. When he was satisfied, he turned, smiling when he saw Aisling and Mike approach them. He waved, and Aisling could see the beginnings of a scar on his hand where the stitches had been.

"Hey Ais," Peter greeted, "You look great!"

Aisling did a little twirl, showing off the dress she'd chosen to wear. "Thank you, I thought this was the only thing I could wear that matched your shirts," she replied. "I didn't want to look out of place, not anymore than I already do."

"You won't look out of place!" said Micky, "Not when all the girls are going to crowd around Davy!"

"But I'll still look out of place, Micky, because I'll be the only girl in the room NOT crowdin' around Davy. I'll be sittin' behind the keyboard, checkin' out the funny, yet ridiculously handsome, guitarist wearin' the wool-hat, and thinkin' that I'm the luckiest girl in the world!"

Davy snorted. "So what am I?" he asked, "Chopped Liver?"

"Of course not!" Aisling replied with a laugh, "It's just that I only have eyes for Mike. I have nothing against ye what so ever!"

"Want to test that theory?"

"Not on your life, midget."

Peter, Micky and Mike looked at each other in stunned silence, then burst out laughing at the way Aisling had answered Davy's proposal. Sensing this, Aisling turned to face them, smiling and taking a small bow.

She turned and looked at Davy apologetically. "Sorry Davy, but I'm nothing like the girls that are interested in ye. I never have, and I probably never will be, so don't feel bad when I tell ye I'm not interested in ye, it's just that I'm interested, very interested," she turned and gazed up at Mike lovingly, "in someone else."

"Yeah," Davy replied, "I know. I was just testing you. Because we've all been hurt before, the fellas and I, and I just wanted to be sure your intentions were good."

Aisling looked stunned. "Ye were serious about testin' me? Even after ye told me that ye were going to try and get Mike and I together?" Her face darkened with anger. "I thought ye were me friend, Davy."

"I am!"

"Obviously not a very good one!"

"Aisling, I... I'm sorry."

"Are ye? Are ye really?" she scoffed. "Ye didn't trust me, Davy! For all I know, ye still don't!" She took a deep breath, trying her hardest not to burst into tears in front of the guys. 'What is wrong with you!?!' the little voice in her head yelled. 'First the sound and smell of food makes you nauseous, now you're getting angry about the tiniest most insignificant thing! Sure he tested you, but it was only because he didn't want Mike to get hurt. You both want the same thing. You both want Mike to be happy, and you both know that the one thing that's going to make him happy... is you.' Aisling swallowed. "I'm sorry I went and bit your head off, Davy. I've been feelin' strange the past couple of days, with everythin' goin' on, so sometimes I say things I don't mean."

Davy shook his head. "It's okay, Ais, I shouldn't have done it. You were right to get angry."

"No, I wasn't." Aisling turned to Mike, "Em, I think I'm goin' to go back to the dressin' room for a bit. Could ye come get me when ye want me?"

Mike looked concerned, but nodded in agreement. "Okay, Ais. I'll come get you when we're ready for the first set."

"Thanks, love," she replied, "I'd kiss ye, but I don't want to ruin me make-up." She grinned. "But that just means it'll be better later!"

"I bet it will, Ais," he said, kissing her on the forehead.

When Aisling got back to the dressing room, the first thing she did was run straight to the bathroom. She couldn't understand why she suddenly began to feel nauseated, but as soon as it happened, she knew she needed to get to the toilet as quickly as she could. "It was just somethin' I ate," she said, trying to convince herself it was the truth, "It was somethin' I ate that didn't agree with me, that's all." Spending her time hugging the toilet bowl was not how she envisioned part of her first, and only, performance as a member of the Monkees, so Aisling couldn't help feeling awful in more ways than one. Grabbing some toilet paper from the roll nearby, she wiped her face, knowing that she'd need to reapply her lipstick before Mike came back for her. She felt someone hold back her hair, as the urge to be sick overcame her once again.

"Are you okay, Aisling?" Micky asked quietly, holding her long hair away from her face. "I thought you might need someone to do this. I have got three sisters, you know."

Aisling gulped. Her first instinct was to ask him what he was doing following a girl into the bathroom, particularly when the girl in question was not his sister, or his girlfriend. Instead she chose to ask, "Are you insinuatin' somethin', Mick?"

"Well, I think you're pregnant," he replied. "If that's what you think I mean."

"If I'm pregnant, and I'm not... at least I hope I'm not..."

"I'll do anything I can to help, Ais," Micky said. "Just tell me what you want me to do."

Aisling thought for a moment, considering his words. "Don't tell Mike," she begged. "That's all I want. Because I don't want him to think anything bad about me, and I'm scared that he'll think I planned things this way if we find out that I AM pregnant."

"You sure we should keep this a secret, Aisling?"

"Only if it's necessary," she replied, grabbing more toilet paper to wipe her mouth with, then turning to look up at him, "Look, as soon as we get back from Kansas, you can take me to the doctor's and get the proper test done. We'll figure out where we go from there." She looked at him sadly, "Just don't tell Mike."

Micky looked down at Aisling, his loyalty torn between both of his friends. "All right," he said reluctantly, "I won't tell him, not until you want me to, and not until we know for sure."

Aisling stood as she wiped her mouth. "Thanks, Micky. For everything."

"But I haven't done anything yet."

"Ye will. Maybe not now, but ye will."

Silently, Aisling followed Micky from the bathroom and back to the dressing room. While Micky waited, she took a few moments to reapply her lipstick and touch up her make-up so she didn't look as worn out as she felt, then she sat down and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths and hoping everything, the gig, and the trip, turned out okay. She opened her eyes when there was a knock on the door. "Come in," she called.

It was Mike. "Hey babe, we're just about ready to start."

"Okay, thanks love."

Mike frowned. "Are you okay?"

"She's/I'm fine!" Aisling and Micky cried at the same time.

"I'm fine now," Aisling repeated, "I was feelin' a little bit sick, so I just needed time to breathe. Micky decided to keep me company."

"Yeah, that's all," Micky agreed.

Mike looked at the two of them suspiciously, like there was something they were trying very hard not to tell him. "Is there something else you want to tell me?"

Aisling frowned. "No, not right now."

"Okay, but," he sat down beside her, then kissed her on the cheek, "Let me know if you start to feel sick again, so we can have a break whenever you need it."

"Hopefully I won't need it, but..." Aisling smiled, "All right. I will." She stood. "Now, I seem to remember that there's a diminutive percussionist, and an adorable bassist out there, waiting for us to join them." She held out her hand to Mike, "Shall we?"

Mike stood and took Aisling's offered hand. "Let's go, c'mon Mick."

Micky nodded. "Okay, Mike."

The three of them walked back to the stage area, ready to perform the best gig of their lives.

* * *

The gig went off without a hitch. While he wasn't able play his bass, or play the keyboard, Peter still managed to have an active role by singing back-up and acting as page-turner for Aisling during the songs she didn't know from memory. For some reason, he couldn't help feeling like Aisling was a little distracted by something. She was still playing and singing like there was nothing wrong, but there was something that was making her hold back a little, which was disconcerting, especially after how open she'd been about almost everything that had happened to her during the past few days.

He wondered if he should ask her about it, in private, but he realised that she'd probably end up spending the rest of the evening with Mike, talking about what they were going to find when they got to Kansas and wherever Aisling needed them to go. After the gig was over, and when everyone, including Jesse, who had joined them after their last set, was ready to go, they packed everything they had into the MonkeeMobile, and soon they were on their way, beginning the three day journey to Kansas.

"What did you tell your Mom about the trip?" Mike asked as they drove. "I don't want her to think that anything bad might happen to you while we're gone."

Aisling sighed. "I told her that this trip is a research trip for my history essay, and that you guys offered to come with me so I wasn't alone, and so you could look after me, if the necessity arose."

"Let's just hope that it doesn't."

"I know you'll protect me," Aisling replied, smiling slightly. "I know ye all will."

"What do you think we'll find when we get to the winery, Ais?" asked Jesse.

"Well," she began, "from what I've read, it's still a working winery, but it's also a museum dedicated to the work Radha, Gareth and Finn did with the Underground Railroad. I think they have guestrooms too, so we'll be able to stay there while we figure out what's goin' on." She frowned. "As to what we'll find, I don't know. I've seen Radha's ghost, so I suspect that we'll encounter Finn and Gareth's ghosts at some point." Aisling shivered. "And I am not looking forward to THAT, let me tell ye."

"Neither am I," said Mike, "Who knows what might happen if you DO see them."

"For all we know they might be trapped there, I mean their bodies won't be there, obviously, but if they died at the winery, their ghosts might be trapped there somehow. Unfinished business."

Peter swallowed. "And you have to figure out what that unfinished business is?"

Aisling nodded. "Uh huh. Among other things."

Jesse raised an eyebrow. "What other things?"

"I can't say," she replied. "Not yet, at least."

The conversation tapered off after this, and, after deciding that they'd switch drivers every so often while the others slept, they continued to drive through the night.

* * *

As Mike drove, Peter found the smooth movement of the car sending him to sleep, and, like Aisling and Mike before him, he began to dream. He dreamt that he was standing in a cellar, surrounded by barrels and other winemaking paraphernalia. He looked around, realising that he wasn't alone. A beautiful girl with long red hair, teal green eyes, and wearing a long white gown, stood across the room from him. She smiled at him, then walked towards him and pulled him into a hug.

"So you finally made it," she said, "Just like the others."

"What others?" he asked, even though he had a fair idea of who she meant.

"You know who I'm talking about."

"Aisling and Mike."

The girl smiled again. "Do you know who I am?"

"Yes."

"Name me then. I won't hurt you."

Peter swallowed. "You're Radha Crane, and you're Aisling O'Callaghan."

"Correct. On both counts."

"Why'd you bring me here?"

Radha shook her head. "I didn't bring you here. You're starting to remember the places and things that were important to you when you were..."

"Your brother."

"That's right."

"But how come this stuff is coming to me now?"

"Because you need to know. When you get to my former home, a dangerous game will be set in motion, and all the players must know their parts."

"What's my part?" he asked. "What am I supposed to do in all this?"

Radha looked at him sadly. "Your part, while not the biggest, is most certainly the hardest. At some point during your stay in my former home, I don't know when, you will lose yourself and another shall take your place, assuming your form. When this happens, you will do terrible things. You can't stop them from happening so you must fight your replacement at every opportunity."

Peter looked at her in alarm. "What am I going to do!?!" he asked, "I'm not going to hurt my friends, am I?"

"You will hurt your friends, unfortunately, but the damage can be minimal as long as you fight. That's all you can do."

"Can I warn my friends?"

"No. They need to go through this just as much as you do." She smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, Peter, but it's a necessary evil."

"Isn't there anything I can do to protect my friends before it happens?"

'There's nothing you can do. Fighting him is your only option."

"Fight who, Radha?" Peter asked, blinking back tears, "Who am I supposed to fight?"

"Me," said a voice behind him. The voice sounded identical to Peter's own, except there were the faintest traces of an Irish accent as well.

Radha's eyes widened, as if she didn't expect to see the owner of the voice quite so soon, if at all. "Finn," she breathed, "What are you doing here?"

Finn smirked. "Thought I'd check out my temporary home before I move in." He walked around Peter, circling him like a vulture circled a carcass, his bottom lip curling into a snarl. "He does look like me, so I guess I can work that to my advantage. At least I won't have to work on gaining their trust."

"I won't let you take him," Radha said angrily, "Not now. Not before it's absolutely necessary."

"Don't I get a say in this?" Peter asked, his eyes wide with fear. "I don't want to hurt my friends!"

"Don't worry about that," Finn replied, a cruel smile forming on his lips, "You won't be the one hurting your friends."

Peter relaxed a little.

"No, the one hurting your friends will be me. In your body. While you watch."

Peter turned to Radha, looking at her with tears in his brown eyes. "You lied to me. You said I wasn't going to hurt my friends!"

"I have been nothing but honest with you, Peter," she replied. "And so is he. That's why you have to fight him, to decrease the damage that he will cause."

Finn clucked his tongue disapprovingly. "Telling him to fight, Rara? Now that's not fair!"

"You think warning him about you and what you're going to make him do isn't fair!?!" Radha cried. "How, in heaven's name, do you know what's fair and what isn't!?!"

"I don't," he replied. "But I'm not particularly inclined to argue." He sniffed. "Not with you, anyway."

"So leave then," Radha snapped. "Leave Peter alone for the time being, so I can prepare him for your..." she looked at Peter with his hands in front of his face, shielding himself from their sight, "occupation."

Finn nodded. "All right, I'll go, but first..." He drew close to Peter, whispered something in his ear, then smiled evilly at the look of horror on the blonde bassist's face. With a triumphant look in his eyes, Finn disappeared, and once again Radha and Peter were alone.

Radha swallowed. "Peter, what did he say to you?"

The horrified look on Peter's face dissolved into a fit of tears as he told her what Finn had told him. "If I breathe a word about any of this to my friends," he sobbed, "My life is forfeit."

In other words, if Peter tried to get a warning out to any of his friends, Aisling and Jesse included, he would be killed.

* * *


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

Three days passed since the gig and Peter's dream, and on the morning of the 5th of April, Aisling, Jesse, and the Monkees, arrived at Accasbel House, the former home of Radha and Gareth Crane, as well as Finn O'Connor. As they drove through the front gate and into the courtyard, Aisling noticed the plaque that adorned the red brick fence was engraved with a triquetra, a symbol she recognised while researching her Celtic heritage. The triquetra was a symbol of things or people that were threefold, in this case mostly like Radha, Gareth and Finn, because the winery had belonged to all three of them. Looking up at the house, she couldn't shake the sense of familiarity that stirred. It was like she could walk through the door and just know where everything was, even though she hadn't been there before, and she knew, from the looks on Peter and Mike's face, that they felt it too.

Mike parked the car and turned off the engine. "We're here," he announced. He turned to Aisling. "Ready to go inside, babe?"

She nodded, smiling weakly. "Aye," she replied, giving his hand an affectionate squeeze.

The group all got out of the MonkeeMobile and headed for the house, deciding to come back for their things later on, although Mike did make sure the trunk was locked first. As they walked into the makeshift reception area, they noticed a young woman sitting at a desk, various books and papers cluttered the space around her. Without looking up, the young woman went about her work, occasionally writing things down in a big black notebook which was open in front of her. Mike and Aisling glanced at each other, as if deciding which one of them should talk to the woman and announce their presence.

After a few more moments of indecision, and not really getting anywhere because of it, Jesse and Davy decided to take matters into their own hands and walked to the front desk themselves. "Uh, hello?" Jesse greeted nervously, scratching the back of his neck as he looked down at the young woman. "Miss?" said Davy, trying to get her attention. She looked up at the both them, peering over the top of her round-rimmed glasses, then smiled.

"Hullo," she said, a soft Scottish accent in her voice, "How can I help ye lads?"

The two men stared at the young woman, transfixed by how lovely she looked, and sounded. They took in her appearance noting that her eyes were sky-blue, with minute flecks of grey in the corners, while her long wavy hair was as black as onyx, perfectly framing her rosy, heart-shaped face. Even though none of the group knew her name, it didn't take much for Mike, Aisling, Micky and Peter to figure out that their two friends had both fallen head over heels in love with the young woman at the desk.

"How can I help ye?" the young woman repeated, giggling a little.

Aisling sighed, deciding to rescue her best friend from his inevitable embarrassment. "Hello," she greeted, coming and standing beside Jesse, "I'm Aisling O'Callaghan, I believe we spoke on the phone?"

The young woman turned to look at Aisling... then nearly fell out of her chair! "Oh my stars, it's YE!" she cried, before composing herself and adding, "I mean, aye, of course ye did. Sairy." She took a long hard look at Aisling, then said, "Ye really dae look like her, then. Like ye said on the phone."

"That's right," Aisling replied with a nod. "And ye are?"

The young woman blushed. "Oh, how silly of me to be forgettin'," she said with a nervous giggle. "I'm Elspeth. Elspeth Dundas."

"And like I said, I'm Aisling O'Callaghan," Aisling repeated, turning and beckoning Mike, Peter, and Micky, over. She took Mike by the hand, "This is Michael Nesmith, me boyfriend."

Elspeth nodded. "Pleased to meet ye," she said, smiling again.

"This is Peter Tork," Aisling continued, looking up at him with a small smile. She pointed to Micky, "This is Micky Dolenz, and..." She paused, then looked at Jesse and Davy. Both men were standing stock still, with dreamy looks on their faces. "And those two, heaven help us, are Jesse and Davy."

"Which one's which?" Elspeth asked, an amused smile playing on her lips.

"Hold on," said Mike, "I'll show you." He turned to the love struck pair. "Hey Davy, stand up will you?"

Davy shook his head, bringing himself out of his self-induced trance. "I AM standing up!"

Mike turned back to Elspeth. "That's Davy," he deadpanned.

Elspeth laughed. "I'll take yer word for it then." She turned to Aisling. "Would ye like some help gettin' settled in?" she asked, "I can get me faither to bring in anythin' you've brought with ye?"

Aisling and Mike looked at each other, considering Elspeth's offer. Mike nodded. "That'll be great," he replied.

"Good," Elspeth said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I can take ye to meet him right now, if ye like?"

"Okay," Aisling replied, smiling slightly.

Elspeth stood from her seat and walked out from behind the desk. "Follow me," she said, leading the group down a nearby corridor. While they walked, Elspeth talked about the history of the house, what prompted Radha and Gareth to go into business with Finn and open the winery. To Aisling, this sounded like the well rehearsed spiel used solely for guests only remotely interested in learning something about where they were staying, so she tuned Elspeth out for a little while and looked around at the pictures that hung on the walls. There were photographs of Gareth, on his own, and with Radha, both of them looking happy and madly in love with each other. She even saw a bigger, clearer, version of the photograph she found in the slavery book, but she didn't get the chance to look at it when Elspeth ushered the group into a large parlour.

A little girl, about three or four years old, was playing with an older man in the middle of the room, then looked up when Elspeth walked in. A wide smile broke out on the little girl's face, quickly scrambling to her feet, running over and leaping into Elspeth's arms. "MAMA!" she cried happily, giggling as Elspeth started to tickle her.

Aisling smiled. "And who is this little darlin'?" she asked.

Elspeth couldn't have looked more proud. "This bonnie lass is ma daughter, Heather," she replied, then she pointed to the man Heather had been playing with, "and that's me faither Eoin. Heath's the apple of his eye."

Jesse and Davy looked at each other, stunned by this revelation. "Your daughter!?!" they said in unison.

"Ma daughter," Elspeth repeated, "That's nae a problem for either of ye, is it?"

"No, no, of course not," the two of them muttered.

The older man walked over, joining his daughter and granddaughter. "Hullo, Eoin Dundas," he greeted, looking at Aisling intently. "Now who's this bonnie creature?" Eoin's accent was slightly thicker than Elspeth's, but not enough that they couldn't understand him.

"Aisling O'Callaghan, Mr. Dundas," she replied, giggling a little. "I spoke to Elspeth about me friends and I stayin' here, a few days ago."

A look of realisation crossed Eoin's face. "So you're the lass," he glanced at Mike and Peter, "and the young lads, who look like our lord an' lady of the manor, an' the lady's brother."

Aisling nodded sadly. "That's right."

"It's gettin' mighty close to the anniversary," he continued. "If you get ma meanin'."

"Aye," Aisling agreed, biting her lip. "Elspeth said ye could help us bring our things inside, get us settled in," she said, changing the subject. "She said ye could help."

Eoin smiled. "Oh, is that all?" he asked, "Of course I can help, just lead me to yer car and you'll be sorted out in no time!" He grinned. "But first I think ye lads should introduce yerselves, eh?"

Mike extended his hand. "I'm Michael Nesmith," he said as Eoin shook his hand. "And these are Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, and Jesse Baines," he added, pointing out each one as he introduced them.

"Good to meet ye lads, and lassie," Eoin said, giving Aisling a polite nod. "Now let's get ye all settled in."

As they walked back to the MonkeeMobile, Aisling got the feeling that, very soon, all the secrets of Accasbel House would come to light. But she also knew if that was going to happen, she would need to work quickly, keeping an eye out for Radha if she decided to make contact again.

But Radha was not going to be the one to make contact first...

* * *

"So how did ye learn about Radha and Gareth?" asked Elspeth as she helped Aisling unpack, later that afternoon. "I mean, it is a little out of the blue that ye decided to come out here at this time of the year."

Aisling sat down on the bed. "I was doin' research," she explained. "I'm a history major at UCLA and I was the library doin' research for an essay I was writin'. One of the books I found had Radha, Finn and Gareth's photograph in it."

Elspeth nodded. "Then ye thought ye might check out the winery, learn a bit more for your essay. That makes sense."

"Yeah, that's it," Aisling said quietly. She looked up at Elspeth. "Actually, no, that's not just why I came here. If that was the case I wouldn't have Mike or any of the guys with me, well maybe Jesse, but still..."

"What are ye talkin' about?" Elspeth asked, sitting beside her.

With a sigh, Aisling decided to spill the beans. "Can ye keep a secret?" She let out a sigh of relief when Elspeth nodded. "I didn't find the photograph completely by chance," Aisling admitted, "I heard a voice, and the voice led me to the book."

"Who's voice was it?" Elspeth asked, without batting an eyelid. "Was it someone ye knew?"

"I didn't know, at first," Aisling continued, "Until I met the ghost."

Elspeth raised her eyebrows. "Ye met a ghost?"

Aisling nodded. "Not just any ghost. It was Radha! Right in me bedroom, as real as ye or I!"

"Whit did she tell ye?"

"To find our soulmate. Mike."

"Ye mean he's..."

Aisling nodded. "According to Radha, I'm her, Mike's Gareth, and Peter's Finn, or we were." She sighed. "It's just so confusin'!" She rubbed her head. "And it gives me a headache thinkin' about it too."

"It's givin' me a headache thinkin' about it too, and I'm nae even sure I believe ye!" Elspeth sighed. "Okay, so she telt ye to find Mike, so ye could tell him how ye felt about him?"

"That, and to tell him about the photograph. I showed it to him, and I thought he didn't believe me at first, so ye can imagine the relief I felt when he said that he did!"

"I can believe that. So then Radha telt ye to come here, with Mike."

"And the others," Aisling said with a nod, "Radha said they're s'posed to protect me, but I don't know what they're s'posed to protect me from!"

Elspeth bit her lip. "Well," she began, "I've heard stories that the winery is haunted. By Radha, Gareth and Finn."

Aisling frowned. "I've seen Radha, and I've dreamt about Gareth, and neither of them seemed like they would hurt me," she mused. "But I haven't come into contact with Finn at all, which does worry me a bit." She sighed. "We'll just have to see how thing's turn out then, won't we?"

"I guess we will," Elspeth agreed. "But then think about how fantastic it'd be for the winery," she said enthusiastically, "Just think of it, a haunted winery!"

"I wouldn't start runnin' around and tellin' everybody the place is haunted just yet," Aisling said with amusement.

"Why nae?"

"Because ye don't know if it's true or not!" Aisling laughed. "At least not until I've done what I came here to do!"

Before Elspeth could ask what Aisling meant, she was interrupted by a knock on the door and the two women heard a little voice ask "Are ye here, Mama?" from the other side.

Elspeth stood, then walked over and opened the door. "Oh hullo, ma pretty wee bairn," she greeted, lifting Heather into her arms and bringing her into the room. "Whit dae ye want, sweetheart?"

"Seanair's busy helpin' the boys and cannae play with me, Mama," she said. "Seanair said ye were here, so I came tae find ye."

"Do ye always listen to whit Seanair says?" Elspeth replied, smirking a little, even though she meant the question in jest.

Aisling laughed when the little girl shot her mother something that resembled a mildly insulted look before saying, "Aye, Mama. I always listen to Seanair!"

Elspeth ruffled her daughter's long black hair, "I ken ye do, wee one."

"Well, I've told ye me story," said Aisling, "now why don't ye tell me all about this little one?"

Elspeth looked pensive. "I merrit young," she began, "got permission from ma faither and everythin'." She looked at Aisling sadly. "Found out I was pregnant six months later."

"But how come your last name, and Heather's last name, is Dundas?" Aisling asked, "Wouldn't ye have taken your husband's name?"

"I did, when Tom and I first got married, but because I was an only child and didnae want ma last name to die out, we agreed to combine our names instead of just takin' his."

Aisling looked at Elspeth in confusion. "So after ye married, your name was?"

"Elspeth Dundas-McGrath."

"But what happened to Tom?" Aisling asked, a bad feeling forming in the pit of her stomach. "What happened to Heather's father?"

Elspeth swallowed, then drew Heather close to her, covering the child's ears. "About a year or sae after Heather was born, Tom an' I got into a car accident. It was very bad, and the doctors at the hospital dinnae think either one of us were goin' tae make it, so when I recovered, we thought Tom would too, but..." Elspeth trailed off, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Oh Elspeth," Aisling breathed, "I'm so sorry."

"It's awright, ye dinnae need tae apologise," Elspeth smiled, despite her tears. "At least I've still got ma Heather."

"But it still hurts, doesn't it," said Aisling, getting a faraway look in her eyes. "Raisin' a child alone, I mean."

Elspeth nodded. "Aye, it does get a wee bit hard sometimes, but I've got Papa to help me."

Having listened to Elspeth's story, Aisling made an important decision. She turned to Elspeth. "Is there a doctor in town?" she asked.

"Aye, there is," Elspeth replied. "But whit dae ye need a doctor for?" she enquired. "Ye look fine tae me."

"I want - I need - to have a test done," Aisling replied. "A very specific test, a test I don't think I should put off until I get home."

"Awright, I'll take ye tae see Dr. Wood in the mornin'." Elspeth said with a frown.

Aisling smiled, but Elspeth noticed that it didn't reach her eyes. "Thank ye."

Standing from the bed, after gathering Heather up into her arms, Elspeth carefully checked her watch. "It's 7 o'clock. Time for dinner."

Aisling's stomach growled. "Dinner would be lovely."

Elspeth grinned. "Have ye had any traditional Scottish fare before?"

"I had some haggis once, but it didn't agree with me."

"Seanair makes the best haggis!" Heather announced, to their amusement.

Aisling rumpled the girl's hair. "I'm sure he does, little one, but I don't think me friends would take to it straight away."

Elspeth laughed. "I think Seanair will make somethin' we'll all like, darlin'."

"Will he make chocolate fudge, Mama?"

"Let's gae ask him," said Elspeth, leading her daughter out of the room. When she realised that Aisling wasn't following them, Elspeth doubled back and stuck her head in the doorway. "Comin'?"

"Of course," Aisling replied, standing from the bed and following Elspeth out the door.

But she still didn't know what the approaching night would bring.

* * *

A few hours after dinner, which was not haggis in the end, Aisling, Jesse and the Monkees, tired out by all their unpacking, decided to retire for the night. As she bid goodnight to Eoin, Elspeth, and Heather, Aisling couldn't help feeling that something was going to happen during the night, something important. 'Maybe Radha's going to contact me again?' she mused, 'Or maybe I need to keep my eye out for something.' She sighed. 'Either way, I don't think I'm going to get much sleep tonight, no matter how hard I try.'

She looked up when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Mike. There was a look of concern in his eyes, and his mouth was partially open as if there was a question he wished to ask her, but couldn't find the right words to articulate it. Instead he asked, "Walk you to your room, babe?"

Aisling smiled. "That would be lovely."

He took her by the hand, his grip firm but not uncomfortable. They said nothing as they walked, either just being content with being near each other, or somehow suspicious that any conversation, however trivial, would be overheard. Aisling leaned over a little, resting her head on Mike's shoulder. Part of her wanted to tell him about her upcoming trip to the doctor's with Elspeth, but she realised that might lead to questions that she couldn't, and didn't want, to answer until she had a firm idea in her mind of the situation.

"I want to start lookin' for clues tomorrow," she said quietly. "Is that okay with you?"

"Sure babe," Mike replied. "First thing."

"Actually, Elspeth and I need to go into town first," she admitted. "Girl stuff, nothin' you'd be interested in."

Mike frowned, but the sincerity in Aisling's voice seemed to placate him, for the time being. "But you'll be back later?"

She nodded, a small smile on her lips. "Of course, can't keep meself away from ye too long, can I?"

"Nope," he replied, kissing her on the forehead. "Wouldn't want it any other way." He smiled. "I mean, I've got the fellas, and I got you. That's good enough for me."

"Don't forget about tryin' to get the band a recordin' contract," Aisling reminded him. "Don't let me, or all we've been through, distract ye from your goal."

Mike nodded. "I guess I could ask Eoin about findin' a place to set up our instruments, maybe try and rehearse a little," he said. "Peter said his cut has healed some more, he thinks he might be able to play again."

"As long as he's careful."

After a few more moments walking together, the two of them stopped in the doorway of the room Aisling was staying in. They stood in front of each other, not really saying anything, just staring at each other in the awkward silence.

Mike turned to head towards his room, but he stopped when he heard Aisling's soft giggle. He looked at her and grinned. "What's so funny, huh?"

"Nothin'."

"Didn't sound like nothin'."

Aisling cocked her head. "Ye forgot to give me a goodnight kiss."

"I did?"

"You did."

"Well I'll just have to fix that, won't I?"

Mike gathered Aisling in his arms and kissed her gently, deepening the kiss when she put her arms around his neck and drew him closer. They kissed for another moment or two, then broke apart, knowing they'd see each other again in the morning.

"See ye tomorrow," Aisling whispered, leaning against the doorframe.

"You too," Mike replied, kissing her again. "Night babe." He pointed down the hall, "I'm just down there, if you want me."

She nodded. "I know."

Aisling watched as he walked away, then turned and opened the door into her room. Once she'd changed into her nightdress, Aisling walked to the dressing table and sat down in front of it, picking up the hair brush she brought with her and running it through her long mane. She gazed at her reflection in the mirror. She looked tired, but that was understandable because she felt absolutely exhausted. Returning the brush to the table, she glanced at the wall next to the door, at the modern light switch which looked out of place on the wooden surface. Elspeth had explained that when her father bought the winery, after they came over from Scotland, he had the entire house wired for electricity and had all the plumbing replaced before opening it to the public. But, despite the practicality of the exercise, it still felt odd to see a 20th century light switch on a 19th century wall. She stood, then walked over and turned off the light, plunging the room into darkness, save for the light of the moon streaming through the windows. Treading carefully through the dark, Aisling made her way to the bed, pulling back the covers then climbing in, falling asleep almost as soon as her head touched the pillows.

But she wouldn't stay that way for long... nor did she know that she was being watched.

Finn peered into the room through the mirror. The darkness was not a problem for him, and he saw Aisling's sleeping form clearly. He climbed out of the mirror, over the dressing table and onto the floor, before walking to the side of the bed that Aisling was sleeping on.

"Well, well, well," he said quietly. "I knew she looked like my darling sister, but the resemblance is uncanny!" He sat down on the edge of the bed. "It actually makes me a little sad that I have to kill you," he said with a slight smirk, leaning down and planting a chaste, feather-light, kiss to Aisling's lips. He reached over and grabbed the pillow from the other side of the bed. "But only a little."

Acting quickly, Finn covered Aisling's face with the pillow and pushed down, using all the strength he had to smother her. It was this action that caused Aisling to awaken, and upon realising what was happening to her, she began to flail about in an attempt to save her own life. She fought valiantly, but, who ever her attacker was, he, or she, was just too strong for her to push them away. Aisling felt her life slipping away her, breathing became difficult, and she knew the end would come soon. Except it didn't. Muffled by the pillow, she heard a voice cry out "I WON'T LET YOU KILL HER! NOT NOW!"

It was Radha!

Finn looked up and glared at his sister, then, without saying a word, leapt up and ran towards the dressing table. Before Radha could stop him, Finn jumped into the mirror... and then he was gone.

With a heavy heart, Radha removed the pillow from Aisling's face, then knelt in the floor. Aisling gasped as she sat up, trying to draw in as much air she could handle at the one time. Bleary eyed, she could just make out Radha kneeling on the floor by her side, tears streaming down her face. There were faint traces of a scuffle, but Aisling realised that they were probably the result of her attempts to fight off her attacker.

"What happened?" she wheezed.

"I can't tell you," Radha sobbed. "I'm sorry, but I can't."

Aisling gulped another breath of air. "Why not!?!"

"Because you need to figure it out on your own!"

"Okay," Aisling sighed when her breathing finally returned to normal. "But don't think I'm goin' to take it easy with ye the next time ye show up."

"Is that a threat?" Radha asked, "Or a promise?"

"A promise," Aisling replied, "Ye can add that to all the promises I've already made ye."

Radha stood as she wiped her tears away. "Then that's what I'll do," she said, "Until next time."

"Until next time," Aisling echoed, settling back down to sleep as Radha faded from sight .

But Finn's attack would not be the only thing she experienced that night.

* * *

An hour or so passed since Aisling was attacked, and although she did manage to get back to sleep, what sleep she did get was minimal, to say the least. Eventually she awoke, then climbed out of bed, hoping that she could make her way to the bathroom, the kitchen, ANY room, in the dark, as long as she could get something to drink. She carefully padded through the darkened bedroom, then, once she found the door, slowly opened it and went out into the hallway. For the most part, the hallway was quiet, almost too quiet, and Aisling, for reasons she couldn't even begin to fathom, wished that she could hear something, anything, even Micky's snoring. A moment passed, then Aisling started to walk in the direction she thought lead to the kitchen. But after walking for almost fifteen minutes, Aisling realised that she wasn't heading the right direction, and that the more she walked, the more lost she became.

But then she heard the noise.

"That's odd," Aisling said to herself. "That almost sounded like..." She gasped. The noise almost sounded the wail of a crying baby. But Radha and Gareth never had any children, as far as the books she read had told her, so to hear the sound of a crying baby was more than a little unnerving. "Well I know that can't be Heather," she mused, "The noise is more like an infant, maybe even a newborn. Either way, I think I need to investigate this further."

She followed the corridor in the direction of the noise, wondering if this was Radha's doing. And if it was Radha, then she must have a specific reason why Aisling needed to hear the child's cries. Coming to a stop, Aisling looked around for something that could tell her where she was, or something that could send her in the right direction to get back to her room. Although she didn't know why, Aisling felt drawn towards a particular door. There was nothing strange about the door, but there was something about it that made her want to open it and enter the room behind it.

She walked towards the door and placed her hand on the door knob. Her eyes widened when she realised the door knob was warm, like someone had been there quite recently. Which was odd, because from the amount of dust around, it seemed to indicate that, even though there might have been people there occasionally, there shouldn't have been people there recently, because the only people staying in the house, besides Eoin, Elspeth and Heather living there, were Jesse, Mike, Peter, Micky, Davy, and herself. Deciding to question Elspeth about it in the morning, Aisling pressed on, turning the knob and opening the door to reveal... an empty room.

"Well THAT was anticlimactic," Aisling sighed, stepping into the room. "I half expected someone, or something, to be in here." She shrugged. "Guess I was wrong."

She walked towards the wall opposite the door, pulling the sleeve of her nightdress over her hand and gently rubbing it against the wall to clear away the thin layer of dust. At one point, the wall looked like it had started to be painted in a soft, pale, robin's egg blue, but the paint had now faded almost into nothing as time passed.

"I wonder what this room was goin' to be?" she asked herself, staring at the clean patch of wall.

"I can give you a hint," said a voice behind her.

Aisling jumped and spun around. "Radha, I know you're a ghost," she said with exasperation, "but do ye really need to scare me like that every chance ye get!?!"

Smiling pleasantly, Radha laughed. "Sorry, Aisling," she said, "I'll try not to do it again."

"Thank you," Aisling replied. "Now what's this about givin' me a hint?" she asked, "I thought ye couldn't tell me anythin'?"

"I can't tell you anything outright," Radha corrected her. "But I can do things, and show you things, that can give you an idea of what you need to look for, and what you need to know while you're looking."

Aisling looked at Radha incredulously. "Well THAT was as clear as mud," she deadpanned, her tongue firmly in her cheek.

Radha rolled her eyes. "I can go, right now, if you don't want my help."

"NO!" Aisling cried, stepping forward slightly. She composed herself, then said, "No, don't go."

"So you do want me to give you a hint?"

Aisling nodded. "Show me whatever ye need to," she replied. "Just help me figure out what this room was..." Aisling paused as a sudden thought struck her, adding, "Or was goin' to be."

Radha looked at her strangely. "What makes you think that?"

"It doesn't feel finished," she replied. "I mean, it was, structurally speakin', but it feels like there's somethin' missin'."

"What do you think is missing?"

Aisling shook her head. "Don't know. I just feel like this room was goin' to be something but then maybe..." She paused, looking at Radha sadly. "Maybe you died before it could be finished."

Radha's gaze fell to the floor. "Do you want to know what it was going to be?" she asked. "I can show you something that can help you figure it out."

"All right," Aisling said, nodding slightly. "What do you need to do?"

"I, uh, need to get inside your head."

Aisling looked at Radha in confusion. "Me head?"

"Like how we talked to each other before you came here. In your dreams."

This revelation frightened Aisling a little. "Ye get inside me head!?!" she cried, "Are ye the only one doin' this!?!"

"Yes, I'm the only one," Radha replied, trying to calm Aisling down, "And I will continue to be the only one for as long as you allow me to be."

"Can ye honestly make that promise. Radha?"

After a moment, Radha said, "No, I can't." She sighed. "But," she continued, "I can promise to protect you from the things that Mike can't. I can protect you from the things that can get inside your head besides me." Aisling looked at her wearily. "No harm will come to you. You have my word on that."

"I can accept that," Aisling replied. "Is there anythin' I need to do?" she asked.

Radha approached her. "Just stand still, relax, and I'll do the rest." She placed her hands on the sides of Aisling's head. "Now close your eyes," she said quietly, "and relax. Take a deep breath, then focus on the sound of my voice."

Aisling did as she was told, letting Radha to put her into a hypnotic trance.

"Now," Radha continued, "When I tell you to open your eyes, you're going to see a table with a small book on it. I want you read it, don't worry about forgetting anything because you won't. Do you understand? Nod once if you do." Aisling bobbed her head slightly, and Radha breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, Aisling, that's very good." She started to describe the rest of the room next, her words painting a fairly accurate picture of the room as she knew it. Radha spoke for another minute or so, then fell silent. "You can open your eyes now, Aisling," she prompted.

The sight that greeted Aisling was overwhelming, to say the least. The paint on the wall, previously dulled with age and dust, was now looked vibrant, as if it had been freshly painted that day. She looked around, realising that she was now interacting with the image Radha had implanted in her mind, since Radha herself was nowhere to be seen. There was little furniture around her, expect for a table and chair placed off to the side. They didn't look out of place where they were, but at the same time, it looked like the table and chair were only a temporary fixture in the room. As she approached the table, Aisling noticed, like Radha had told her she would, a small book on the table-top. She sat down in the chair, then opened the book. The text on the page she'd opened to was hand-written, to her surprise. The 'book', she realised, was not just a book, but a diary. Radha's diary.

"So this is what you wanted me to see," she mused. The top of the entry she had opened to was dated the 6th of April, 1816, four days before Radha, Gareth and Finn had died. There was the usual 'Dear Diary' stuff at the beginning, then a particular sentence grabbed her attention. "The sickness I've felt during the past few months seems to have waned," she read aloud, "but since then, new feelings have stirred inside me, feelings of excitement, feelings that give credence to the idea that I may be... with child."

Aisling ran her hand through her hair. "Oh Radha," she breathed, tears forming in the corners of her eyes, silently praying that the next thought running through her mind would be proven wrong. She turned the page to the next entry, then the next, until she came to the entry dated the 9th of April, 1816. "I cannot help feeling selfish," she read, "while entire families of slaves - no - free people of colour whom I have sworn to protect, have gone missing, yet all I am able to think about is the coming addition to my own family. I have consulted Dr Trelawney, and confirmed what I already felt to be true. I am with child, believed to be about eight weeks gone, and due in the fall. I cannot keep this between us any longer, dear diary, I feel I must tell Gareth and Finn the wonderful news without delay. I hope both of them will be thrilled."

Closing her eyes, Aisling started to cry. "Get me out of here, Radha," she sobbed. "Please, get me out!"

"All right," Radha replied. "When you open your eyes the room will return to the present."

Tears continued to stream down her face as Aisling opened her eyes and saw Radha standing before her once again. "Ye never got to tell them, did ye?" she asked, taking a moment to wipe her eyes, although the gesture was futile.

"No, I didn't," Radha confirmed. "That entry became the last entry I'd make before..." she trailed off as her eyes grew watery.

"Before you, Gareth, and Finn died," Aisling finished, bursting into tears again. She swallowed, then took a deep breath. "Why did ye want me to know this?"

"So you knew what I lost," Radha replied, silently adding 'and what you stand to lose, if Finn manages to kill you.' She folded her arms across her chest. "I finally knew I was going to have a baby," she said sadly, blinking back tears. "I was so happy. I was finally going to be able to tell Gareth what he wanted to hear for so long, I could finally tell Finn that he was going to be an uncle... and then we died." She gulped. "When I died, I felt him.. her... it... die too. It was horrible."

The only thing Aisling could bring herself to do was to nod. The thought that Radha could feel her baby dying at the same time as she did made her visibly ill, and knowing that history was going to repeat itself if she didn't learn the truth behind Radha's death made her hope that she wasn't pregnant even more so she didn't have to put an innocent child through the pain and heartache that was sure to befall her during the search for answers. But at the same time, Radha's confession gave more evidence to the idea that history was going to repeat itself, right down to the last detail. If anything, while she hoped she wasn't pregnant, it also made her more worried that she was pregnant, maybe not as far along as Radha, but still enough that she'd know if it died. If she died.

"Radha," she began, "I... I'm... gettin' Elspeth to take me to the doctor's tomorrow." She swallowed, then lick her lips and willed herself to continue talking, "I think I might be pregnant," she admitted, "You told me history is goin' to repeat itself, and now I'm thinkin' 'What if I'm pregnant, because I'm supposed to be? Is it because ye were when ye died? Does that mean for history to repeat itself, the circumstances, and the conditions of the people involved need to be the same as they were back then?'. Because if it is, and it turns out that I am pregnant, then that's not fair. Not to me, or Mike, or to the baby. I mean, why get the two of us to create something wonderful, only to have it taken away from us because it's destined to die if I don't do somethin' about somethin' that happened over a century ago!?!" She gulped, taking in a deep breath of air. "It's just not right, Radha, not right at all... and you know it," she finished.

"I know," Radha agreed. "That's why, especially after your attack, I'm going to make sure that I protect you." Aisling's eyes went wide. She had almost forgotten about the attack. "I couldn't save Gareth, or save myself," she continued, as if she knew what Aisling was thinking. "So I'll do everything in my power to make sure you remain safe."

Aisling nodded again, but remained silent.

Radha held out her hand. "Here," she said, "let me take you back to your room. It's easy to get lost around here."

"All right," Aisling replied, taking Radha's hand. "But could you take me past the kitchen first?" she asked. "I think I need a drink of water."

"Of course," Radha said with a nod.

Aisling looked at Radha sadly. "Just one more thing," she said. "This room was going to be the nursery, wasn't it?"

"It was."

This brought the conversation, and the night's activity, to an end.

But the game was only just beginning, as Aisling and the others would soon find out.

* * *

There was something odd about the way Aisling was acting, Mike noticed when they joined the others at breakfast the next morning. She looked worried about something, barely touching the food on her plate, and when she did eat, she only ate in small bites, as if she didn't really want to eat, but she was forcing herself to eat so she didn't look out of place.

"Are you okay, shotgun?" he asked, leaning over and whispering the question in her ear.

Aisling sighed. "I... don't know," she replied. Some... stuff happened last night I'd rather not talk about."

Mike looked concerned. "What kind of 'stuff'?"

Aisling gulped down another morsel of food. "I was... attacked, almost suffocated, by someone who came into me room."

Mike's eyes widened. "You were WHAT!?!" he cried out in alarm. The sudden outburst caused everyone to stop eating and look at him bewilderedly. "Sorry everyone," he said, laughing nervously. "Don't mind me." He turned back to Aisling, and, when he was certain that he was calm enough to speak without raising his voice again, he asked, "Why didn't you come to me after it happened?"

"I didn't want ye to blame yourself," she said quietly. "I know that if I came to ye last night and told ye someone nearly killed me, you'd spend the rest of the night beatin' yourself up about not bein' there to save me."

"But I'm supposed to protect you, babe, and I can't do that if you don't tell me if something happens to you."

"I know you're supposed to protect me," she replied, smiling slightly, "and I know that there'll be a time when you'll get to be me 'knight in shinin' armour'." She reached up and caressed his cheek. "Although in your case, it's me 'knight in a pair of blue jeans and a woolhat'."

Mike grinned. "Didn't you know that's what knights are wearin' these days?"

Aisling giggled. "Aye, I did, and I hope he always does." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Anyway, ye don't need to worry about that, because Radha saved me, so I'm still here. I'm not about to go dyin' any time soon, thank ye very much."

"Well, I'm thankful for that, babe. Just don't go scarin' me like that again."

"I can't make any promises, Mike, but I'll try."

Mike nodded. "What else happened last night?" he asked, "Any more attacks I should know about?"

Aisling shook her head. "No, I mean, I did learn somethin', but I don't know how important it is just yet."

"What did you learn?"

"Radha, Gareth and Finn weren't the only ones here the night they died," she replied. "Radha was pregnant."

Mike stared at her in shock. "She was pregnant!?!"

"Aye. She was far enough along that when she died... she felt it die too."

"Did Gareth or Finn know about the baby?"

"No, Radha never got the chance to tell them."

"Maybe you have to tell them, somehow," Mike said, taking her by the hand. "It might help, then again, it might not."

"I hope it does," Aisling said with a sigh. "But I don't think we should dwell on it," she continued. "I think that findin' out what happened to the disappearin' slaves is the more important thing."

Mike nodded. "Yeah, the fellas and I are gonna start lookin' around while you're gone, see what we can find."

"And I'll join ye later. Elspeth will help too."

Mike gave her a wry smile. "You sure that's a good idea?" he asked. He looked at Davy and Jesse, both of whom were vying for Elspeth's attention, then shook his head. "Especially with the Casanova twins over there."

Aisling shrugged. "We need all the help we can get," she said, "but I agree that those two need to pull their heads in a bit. I'll talk to Jesse and ask him to back off for the time bein'..."

"And I'll do the same with Davy," Mike agreed.

"But then what are we goin' to do when they ignore us and go after her anyway?"

"We could ask Eoin to lock them in their rooms?"

Aisling laughed. "Ah, but ye forgot that men in love 'have the strength of thousands'," she replied, winking at him. "Or so I've been told."

Mike smiled. "That's true, you know, but it depends on the circumstances."

"Like when?" she asked, "Or how?"

"If something happened to you," Mike replied, "and I needed to save you in a hurry."

Aisling blushed. "Oh, that's just ye bein' 'Papa Nez'," she said. "The same thing happens when ye need to rescue Peter, or Micky, or Davy, or all three at once!"

Mike shrugged. "I guess it does, but not as much." He leaned close to her so the others wouldn't overhear, grinned, then added quietly, "But there are certain things that I'd rather do with you than with any, or all three, of them."

Aisling blushed harder when she realised what he was talking about. "Oh, Michael!"

"Don't pull that 'Oh, Michael!' stuff with me, babe," he said, rolling his eyes. "You know it's true."

She smiled. "Aye," she agreed, letting him kiss her gently, "and I hope it doesn't stop bein' true."

"It won't."

"Anyway," she said, sighing slightly. "That still doesn't tell us what we're goin' to do about Davy and Jesse, does it?"

"Dae whit about Davy and Jesse?" asked Elspeth as she approached the couple. "There's nothin' wrong with them, is there?"

Aisling grinned. "Well, it's not something wrong with them," she said.

"As far as they know," Mike added.

"But they can come over just a little too strong when they're..." Aisling frowned as she tried to find the right word. "Amorous? Enamoured?"

Mike sighed. "They're both in love with you," he deadpanned.

Elspeth laughed. "Oh I ken that!" she said. "Why dae ye think I've been flirtin' with them since they got here?"

Aisling blinked. "But... last night... you were..."

"Mournin' me dear departed husband?" Elspeth nodded, smiling sadly. "Of course I was, I still am, but three years passed since it happened, and I need to start movin' on."

"But I don't think goin' after Davy or Jesse is a good thing," said Mike, his obligatory 'Papa Nez' mode kicking in.

"Or have them go after you," Aisling added.

Mike nodded in agreement. "You might get hurt," he finished. "Someone always does."

Elspeth frowned. "I understand that ye might ken those two better than me," she said sternly, "but I've been takin' care of meself for a long time, Mike Nesmith, and I'm not about to close meself off when there are a couple of young men around who are still interested in me after they've found out I've got a bairn."

Mike held up his hands in defeat. "Okay, I'll back off," he replied. "Just let me or Ais know if they start makin' you feel uncomfortable."

"It's okay," she said. "I can tell it's in your nature to care for others." She looked at Aisling pointedly. "Almost like a faither, wouldn't ye say, Ais?"

Aisling started to scowl, then took a deep breath and calmed down. She knew the other woman was trying to get a rise out of her, but she wasn't going to take the bait. Initially, when Aisling asked about going to the doctor's, she hadn't explicitly told Elspeth that she suspected she was pregnant, but it hadn't stopped her new friend from making a very good guess. "Well, his nickname is 'Papa Nez'," she said at last. "Ye must have heard me use it a little while ago."

Elspeth nodded, content with the fact that Aisling hadn't denied it, but at the same time hadn't given herself away either. "Aye, guess I did hear ye usin' it a little while ago," she said, smiling warmly. "Anyway, are ye ready to go?" she asked, "I can wait a bit until you're ready?"

Aisling shook her head. "No," she began, "as much as it pains me terribly to tear meself away from this gorgeous man," she continued, caressing Mike's cheek, "I think I'm ready to go."

"Awright, just let me get Heather ready, then I'll meet ye out the front, in say..." Elspeth checked her watch. "Ten minutes?"

"That'll be just fine," Aisling replied. "I'll be there."

"Good," said Elspeth, smiling brightly. "I'd better start gettin' Heather ready to go, or she'll run off. I ken she'd rather stay here and play with all of ye, but if you're goin' to be looking around the house while we're out I don't want her gettin' underfoot while you're busy."

Jesse's and Davy's heads both snapped to attention upon hearing this. "I could look after her," they said in unison, to each other's annoyance.

Aisling and Mike exchanged an amused look. "That's a new record, isn't it Mike?" asked Aisling, rolling her eyes. "I expected them to take longer than this."

"Oh I don't know," he replied, "I expected them to start offerin' to look after Heather from the minute they saw her. I just amazed they managed to wait until now."

Elspeth ignored them, instead turning to look at the two young men with a slight frown on her face. "That's nice of ye to offer, boys, but I'm not sure if ye could handle takin' care of her, even for a couple of hours," she said, scratching the back of neck. "She wears me out all the time, and I'm her MOTHER!"

"All the more reason to let one of us look after her," said Davy. "So you can have a break for a few hours!"

Aisling cringed. "I can't believe I'm sayin' this," she said, "but... I kinda agree with Davy, for once." She shrugged. "Besides, if either one were really serious about ye, then lookin' after Heather should be a breeze, shouldn't it?" She winked at Mike conspiratorially, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "Right, Mike?"

Mike glanced at her as if to say 'You're an evil, evil woman, Aisling, and I STILL love you!', but instead he chose to say out loud, covering his mouth with his hand as he tried not to laugh, "Yeah, that's right."

Elspeth sighed, then turned to Heather. "If I leave ye with, uh, Uncle Jesse and Uncle Davy, will ye be a good girl while I'm gone?"

Heather nodded. "Aye Mama, I'll be a good girl and I won't get in the way or anythin', honest!"

"And ye'll listen to everythin' you're telt?"

"Aye, Mama."

"Even by Uncle Mike and Uncle Peter, and by Seanair?"

Heather nodded again. "Aye Mama!"

Elspeth sighed again, then looked at Davy. "Oh, I guess it's awright then, but ye have to tell me what you did, and what ye find out, while Auntie Aisling and I are gone, okay?"

Davy nodded. "Yes, we will." He turned to Jesse, "Won't we?"

Jesse swallowed, although he was keen to impress Elspeth, the thought of looking after the little girl suddenly making him nervous. "Uh, yeah, of course we will!" he said, "We'll look after her, Elspeth, she'll be fine!" He looked at Heather, who looked back at him with a big grin on her face, then relaxed. "Yeah, we'll be fine," he repeated, smiling at Heather and ruffling her hair.

Elspeth walked over and kissed him on the cheek, then did the same to Davy. "Thank ye both," she said, "Just don't her, or yerselves into trouble, or ye'll have me and me faither to answer to, got it?"

Jesse mock saluted. "Yes, ma'am."

Aisling stood from her seat, then gave Mike a quick kiss. "Well, Elspeth and I better get goin', but we'll be back soon."

Mike nodded. "Okay, babe, I'll see you when you get back."

"Just let me know if ye find anythin' useful."

"Will do," he replied. He watched as she turned to leave, then gave her a playful swat on the behind. "Now stop stallin' and get goin'," he said, "Don't worry, I'll be here when you get back, okay?"

Aisling looked back at him and smiled. "Okay," she said, kissing him again. "See ye later." She turned to Elspeth. "Ready?"

"Since I don't have to get Heather ready, then aye, I'm ready. Let's go."

Peter watched as the two girls left the room, then turned to Mike. "Where does Aisling want us to start looking for stuff, Mike?" he asked quietly, brushing his hair out of the way when it fell over his eyes.

"Don't know yet, Big Peter," Mike replied. "But something tells me, when we're in the right place, I'll know."

Peter opened his mouth to reply, then felt the fine hair at the back of his neck stand to attention. He swallowed. "Uh, Mike?"

"Yeah, good buddy?"

"Ever since we got here... I've well... I think I'm being... Oh man," He shifted his weight in his seat, then continued, "Have you felt like you're being watched?" he asked. "Like there's someone near you, and you can almost sense that they're there, but you can't see them? Even though they can see you?"

Mike's eyebrows knitted together as he frowned. "What makes you think someone's watchin' you, Shotgun?"

"Little things."

"Like what?"

Peter thought for a moment. "Like... well..." he began, looking down at the table. He bit his lip, scared that Finn really was watching him, and what might happen to him if he said anything to Mike, or to any of his friends. He didn't want to die, nor did he want Aisling, or Mike, or any of the others, to get hurt. He knew, this time, Mike wasn't going to be able to help.

Mike's eyes widened. "Hey, man, you're shakin'!" he said, rubbing his friend's arm. "Something's got you really spooked, huh?"

Peter's long blonde hair shook as he nodded violently. "Yeah, Mike, but there's nothing I can do about it!" He wrenched his arm out from under Mike's hand, then stormed out of the dining room, his heart pounding so hard that it threatened to punch its way out of his chest.

"Hey, what's wrong with him?" Micky asked after he gulped down the last remnants of his breakfast. "I didn't think anything could make him angry like that!"

"He's not angry, Mick, not even close," Mike replied. "He's terrified, man. I mean, he was cool about comin' here at first, but now I'm startin' to think something happened since then that made him change his mind." He frowned again. "There's something very wrong goin' on here."

Micky stared at the table, trying to process the information in his head. He knew that what he saw was not normally how Peter would act whenever he was scared. As a matter of fact, Peter would be more likely to move in for a hug than to push Mike, or any of his friends, away when they offered him comfort. "Do you think we should talk to him again? Ask him what happened to make him so scared?"

"I just tried that, Micky!" Mike said in exasperation. "You saw what he did! He won't talk to me!"

"He might talk to Aisling."

Mike raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"She doesn't have to talk to him alone," Micky continued. "And she might not even have to say anything! But he might open up a bit more if we try again after she comes back."

"I don't know about that, Micky," Mike replied, scratching his head. He sighed. "But I guess it can't hurt to try."

Eoin started clearing away the breakfast plates as he listened to Micky and Mike discuss what to they were going do to get Peter to tell them what he was afraid of. "Ye dae realise that there are said to be ghosts runnin' around the house?" he suggested casually. "Maybe he saw one of them?"

"Maybe," Mike replied. "But Peter would tell me if something like that happened."

"Would he?" asked Eoin. "Maybe this time there's somethin' else that's makin' him hold his tongue."

Mike thought for a moment, trying to come up with a half decent reply, when suddenly they heard someone cry out "NO!", followed by a loud crash, then silence. Mike's eyes widened, recognising the voice immediately. Without saying a word, he quickly scrambled to his feet and raced out the door.

* * *

Peter had gone straight back to his room when he stormed out of the dining room. He knew he was shaking, but he wasn't sure if it was just fear, or anger, or both. If it was anger, then this was the first time that he'd felt it with such intensity, to the point where he could say that he hated himself for feeling that way, to the point where he could even say that he hated Finn, and justify both statements. He walked over to the bed, then collapsed, lying back and covering his face with his hands as tears started to stream down his face.

He'd told Aisling he was going to protect her, and he wanted to honor that promise. He needed to honor that promise, but with the knowledge that Finn would, at some point, take over his body and use it to harm her, and his friends, made that impossible. Simply impossible. He felt helpless, so very helpless, and there was nothing he could do, or say, to fix it, that wouldn't result in his death.

He sat up, wiped the tears from his eyes and started to think. 'What would Mike do?' was the main question turning through his head. 'Would becoming a MonkeeMan help?' He shook his head. 'No, that wouldn't work, Finn wouldn't even know what a MonkeeMan is.'

"Trying to figure out a way to save yourself?" a voice asked, coming from the mirror on the wall facing the bed. "You do realise anything you do, any effort you make, will be completely and entirely useless?"

"I know," Peter replied, gritting his teeth. "But it won't stop me from trying."

Finn shrugged, then stepped out of the mirror and onto the floor. "No, I guess it won't," he said with a sigh. He frowned. "Are you always this... petulant?"

Peter looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Finn shook his head. "If you don't know, then it doesn't matter."

"What do you want, Finn?" Peter asked with frustration. "Because I'm pretty sure you didn't come here to insult me."

"No reason," Finn responded nonchalantly. He grinned evilly. "I just wanted to see you squirm. I wanted to see what you'd do if I just turned up, out of the blue." He walked towards Peter. "Are you going to run? Are you going to call for those precious friends of yours?"

"No, I won't," Peter replied, lowering his eyes to the floor. Even looking at the floor, he could still see his doppelganger walking towards him. He tried to back away, but nearly toppled over onto the bed, stopping only when he reached out and grabbed the bedpost closest to him. Once he'd steadied himself, he then edged around the bed, but Finn continued to follow him until he was backed up into the wall.

Finn stopped in front of Peter, facing him. "Good," he said. "Because you know what will happen if you do..." He reached up with one hand, then wrapped it around Peter's neck and gently squeezed, pushing him back against the wall with all his strength. He took pleasure watching his double writhe in his grip, trying desperately hard to throw him off so he could breath properly again. After a few more moments, Finn let go, and Peter sank to the floor rubbing his sore neck.

From his seat on the floor, Peter looked up at Finn, glaring at him through his blonde bangs. "I said I wouldn't tell anyone!" he coughed. "And I meant it!"

"Just because you say something, doesn't mean you won't do anything," Finn replied. "When I said that you weren't allowed to warn your friends, I didn't just mean verbally, I meant that you weren't allowed to do anything to alert your friends to my presence. Consider what I did to you just then was... a punishment, that's it, a punishment for your actions in the dining room."

"So instead of just killing me now, you're going to make a game of it?"

Finn nodded. "Why not? I've got a bit of time before I decide to take you over."

Peter coughed again as he stood up, leaning against the wall for support. "You know Radha told me to fight you," he said evenly.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"And Aisling's going to stop you."

Finn smirked. "She can try, but she's got to stay alive long enough to find out the whole sordid truth about me." He sat down on the bed. "Almost managed it last night, if it weren't for my darling sister... or should I say not-sister, going in and saving her double's life."

Peter looked at Finn in confusion. "What do you mean by not-sister?"

Finn rolled his eyes. "I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

"You're going to kill me anyway," Peter replied. "So telling me what you're talking about couldn't hurt you."

Finn's eyes narrowed. "In that case, if you tell your friends anything you've heard from me in this room, you'll be punished again. Is that clear?"

"Yes."

"As shocking to you it may sound, Radha Crane is not my sister. I was a foundling child that the O'Connor's took in when they thought they couldn't have children. But when I was three, Radha was born."

"So you were cast aside?"

Finn shook his head. "On the contrary, I was the eldest child, and only son, so I was named heir to the O'Connor estate, or what was left of it by the time I came of age."

"What have you got against Radha?" asked Peter. "Why do you want to hurt her, or Aisling?"

"Both symbolise something I want but can't have," Finn replied. "So if I can't have them... why should anyone else?"

Peter cocked his head. "But wouldn't it be better for them to be happy?"

Finn snorted. "Pah, I'm beyond that now. Besides, in a few days, I will ensure history repeats itself, which means you, Aisling, and Michael, will all be dead... by your own hand."

When Finn said the last part, a renewed sense of rage filled the blonde bassist and he pushed himself away from the wall and lunged towards his doppelganger. "I won't let you do it!" he yelled, knocking Finn flat on his back onto the bed, then using the distraction to make a break for the door. "And I'm not gonna let you make me do it!"

Rolling over onto his side, Finn waved his hand at the door, making it lock itself just at Peter got to it. "You shouldn't have done that," he warned. "That's going to cost you dearly."

Peter tested the door, first pulling at the doorknob with all his strength, then shoving it with his shoulder, doing whatever he thought might help him break through it as Finn got up and walked towards him. When the door proved that it wouldn't budge, Peter moved away from it, stopping in front of the mirror. He turned to face Finn, looking at his doppelganger defiantly, despite the fact that he knew there was no way he could escape now. "I am not afraid of you."

"You should be," Finn replied, waving his hand again

"What did that do?" Peter asked.

"Try moving your legs."

Peter tried to take a step, but, like the door, his feet wouldn't budge. He gulped. "Okay, so I can't go anywhere," he said, "What are you going to do to me now?"

Finn looked at Peter, then at the mirror behind him. "I wonder how hard I'd have to throw something to make that mirror shatter?" he mused. "Want to help me find out, Peter?"

"NO!" Peter cried, but his protest went unheeded and, with another wave of his hand, Finn sent him flying into the mirror, shattering it upon impact. He landed on the floor, falling unconscious as shards of glass rained down on top of him.

With a satisfied smirk, Finn stepped onto one of the larger pieces of glass, let himself sink into it like it was a puddle of water, then disappeared.

* * *

Mike's heart was pounding as he ran towards Peter's room. He skidded to a halt in front of the door, then tried to open it, only to find that it had been locked. 'Damn it!' he thought, cursing inwardly. "Peter!" he called through the door. "Peter, are you in there?" he asked, "Are you okay?"

No one answered.

Mike gulped, then tried the door again, even though he knew it wouldn't work. "C'mon man, say something!" he cried, "Anything!"

There was still no answer.

He stepped away from the door and was about to ram it when Micky, Davy, Jesse, Eoin and Heather came running down the hall. Mike knew he should have felt relieved to see them, but the feeling of relief was being overridden by the need to know whether or not Peter was okay.

"What happened Mike?" asked Micky. "Is Peter okay? Have you talked to him yet?"

Mike shook his head. "I can't get the door open," he replied. "It's stuck, or locked, or something, and I can't get it open!"

Eoin started searching his pockets. "Don't ye worry now, we can get the door open as soon as I find the master key." He continued his search, turning his pockets inside out, but didn't manage to produce the key. He frowned. "Looks like I've left it in the office," he said, "Ye got ma permission to try breakin' down the door while I go and get the key. And I'll bring back a first aid kit, just in case ye need it."

"Thanks Eoin," said Mike, "I can't make promises, but we'll try to damage the door as little as possible."

"Don't ye worry about the door, lad," he replied, scooping Heather into his arms. "Concentrate on gettin' to yer friend first."

Mike nodded, then turned to Micky, Davy and Jesse as Eoin and Heather retreated back down the hall. "I'm gonna need your help, fellas."

"Yeah, Mike," said Micky, coming and standing beside him, while Davy and Jesse stood on the other side. "On three?"

"On three," Mike echoed, nodding once. He shifted his weight on to his right leg, Micky, Jesse and Davy doing the same. He started to count down. "One... two..." He began to shift his weight onto his left leg, moving himself towards the door. "Three!"

The four men moved as one unit, ramming themselves into the door with all their might. The door must've been sturdier than it looked, because it didn't move at first, but after a few more tries, although they were starting to get tired by now, on their last shot, they heard a loud cracking noise, then the door swung open. They'd succeeded.

Mike gingerly stepped through the doorway, surveying the room for any sign of his friend. "Peter?" he called softly. "Pete?" He heard a low moan come from his right, then turned in the direction of the sound. The blood running through him turned to ice in his veins when he saw Peter's prone form lying on the floor in front of the empty frame that used to be a mirror. Peter's clothes were torn, obviously ripped by the glass, and thin rivulets of blood dribbled from shallow cuts on his face and arms. He counted the fact that Peter was still breathing a minor miracle, since there was no sign that any glass had penetrated anything vital. But the suspicious bruise forming on Peter's throat was not something he could ignore either. "Oh Peter," he breathed, crouching down near Peter, carefully navigating the glass shards. "What happened to you?"

Peter slowly opened his eyes. "Mike?" he asked.

Mike nodded. "Yeah, Pete, it's me."

Peter gingerly tried to prop himself up on his elbow. "Mike, I..."

"Careful, Shotgun," Mike warned gently. "Don't go tryin' to move, and don't try to talk. We don't know how bad your injures are yet, so don't go doin' anything that might make things worse, okay?"

He stood, then turned and walked back to the doorway, and to his three anxious friends. "Peter's hurt, fellas," he announced. "And it looks pretty bad, so I need you to get Eoin, tell him we got in, then tell him we need him to bring back a first aid kit, something to clean up broken glass, then we need to call a doctor."

"I'll go get him," said Jesse, taking off down the hallway at a run.

Mike sagged against the doorframe. "Man, first Aisling, now Peter!" he moaned. "What on earth is goin' on!?!"

"Can't protect everyone all the time, Mike," said Micky, shaking his head sadly. He frowned. "Wait, what do you mean 'First Aisling'?"

"She got attacked last night. Said she didn't see who it was, that the guy got away before she had a chance to look at him... or her."

"But she's okay?" asked Davy.

"Yeah, she's fine," Mike replied, rubbing his face with his hand. "She said Radha saved her." Before he could say anymore, he saw Jesse returning with Eoin, who was carrying a dustpan and broom. Jesse carried Heather and the first aid kit.

Heather looked incredibly upset and confused. "Uncle Mike, what happened to Uncle Peter?" she asked, tears trailing down her little face. "Is he gonna be okay?"

"Hey now, don't worry your little head about Uncle Peter," said Eoin, patting her on the head. "He'll be fine."

Mike smiled and nodded, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Yeah, shotgun, he'll be fine." Jesse handed Mike the first aid kit. "Thanks, man."

Jesse put Heather on the floor, then took her by the hand. "Uh, I think I'm gonna take Heather out to play," he said. He turned to Micky and Davy. "You guys come too."

Micky nodded. "Sure, we'll come with you. It'd be easier for Mike and Eoin to take care of Peter if we're not getting in the way." He gave Mike's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Just let us know when we can see him, all right?"

"All right."

Mike watched as the three young men and the little girl walked away, leaving him alone with Eoin as the only one who could help him treat Peter's injuries. "Did you call a doctor?" he asked, following the older man into the bedroom.

"Aye," Eoin replied, carefully walking over to Peter and using the broom to sweep the glass into the dustpan. "I called Dr. Wood in town," he continued. "He was busy with a patient when I called, but he said he'd come as soon as he could."

"Groovy," Mike said with a nod. He put the first aid kit down on the bedside table. "Thanks, Eoin."

"Yer welcome, lad," he responded. "Now ye better help yer friend."

Mike frowned. "I'm not sure if we should move him, I don't want to hurt him more than he already is."

"I asked Dr. Wood about that too," Eoin told him. "He said if we're careful with him and he isn't complainin' about anythin' bein' broken, then we should be able to move Peter onto the bed here."

"That's great," Mike replied, relaxing a little. He turned back to Peter and, now that most of the glass had been cleaned up, knelt on the floor beside him.

"Mike?" Peter whimpered.

"Yeah, buddy, I'm here," Mike said, trying to sooth him. "Eoin and I are gonna try and move you, okay Shotgun?"

"Okay."

"And a doctor's comin'," Mike continued, "but we've got bandaids and stuff for those cuts." He tried to smile, but it didn't quite work. "We're gonna fix you right up, yeah?"

"Yeah."

Mike looked up at Eoin. "Can we move him now?"

Eoin nodded. "Ye hold him under his arms, and I'll hold him under his legs."

The two men gingerly picked Peter up off the floor, then moved him onto the bed. Mike opened the first aid kit and took out a box of bandaids, and a tube of antiseptic ointment, then carefully started to treat Peter's wounds. Although Mike was focused on helping Peter get better, the one thing he couldn't fix immediately, the bruise on Peter's neck, had him worried. He didn't want to upset Peter, but he knew that he'd have to ask him what happened sooner or later.

He just wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer.

* * *


End file.
